Underfall
by NellB
Summary: When Frisk went to Mount Ebbott, they were not expecting to find a whole different world filled with monsters underground. But these monster are loosing hope, they lost themselves and what they were supposed to be a long time ago. Looking to improve their stats or just to survive, the Underground is a kill or be killed kind of place. But that doesn't mean the monsters are bad.
1. ARC I - Prologue I

**POSTED**

* * *

 **UNDERFALL - AUTHOR's NOTE**

 **It's not a typo, even if it does look like Underfell. It's just that universe with my own headcanons, so feel free to use them if you want. Like I said, this is just the same AU. Rated T for cursing and dark thoughts (coughUnderfellcough). It's like an AU of an AU?**

 **This is like, my first fanfic ever. I wasn't even going to write it, just enjoying it on my mind seeing how it would go if certain events happened. But then I went into Tumblr after Idk how much time and got the nerve to post some Undertale and Deltarune fanart (like my pic profile). So, I'm giving this a shot and we'll see how it goes!**

 **Reviews and constructive criticism is appreciated, tell me what you think about this story! This first chapters are more of a prologue where I'll be introducing (almost) all the character I'm going to use and the timeline is not linear. Like, when Frisk falls down is present time and once I say something like (years ago), unless I say otherwise in the next part, it stays in that (years ago) moment in a general span of time. This is to shape this kill or be killed world and my interpretation on how it would come to be.**

 **English is not my first language either, so this serves me as practice too. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

It smelt like flowers.

Climbing the mountain had not been easy in the least, and not just because of the height. Mount Ebbott was known to be a rather dark and dangerous place, where people go to disappear and never return. It seemed like a nice thing, to be able to let go and just not be remembered by anyone anymore. There was a theme with all the people missing over the years in the city below, and that was that the people that disappeared?

They always wanted to.

Maybe that was the reason for them to be here, climbing the mountain with an unusual atmosphere. It felt ominous, never changing and forever there to keep a watchful eye over the humans. Always a temptation, always a thought buried deep in their minds.

Frisk was not deterred, though. They didn't climb it for a happy reason, similar to the other people that preceded them. But maybe, just maybe, they would be able to go and come back a changed person. A person that wasn't hurt by what others thought of them, of what others could do to them, either in a physical or psychological way. They knew it was not realistic, but one could wish.

A last wish before letting go.

Whatever that meant for them.

They saw a huge tree just a bit further on the road. Deciding to rest a bit in there, they approached the shade. What they didn't expect was there being a hole just by the roots. It seemed very old, with moss on its sides and smooth rocks, probably caused by the rain. It was a curious thing, like it was just meant to be there in the middle of the way for unsuspecting people to fall and die.

Fitting.

Getting up, Frisk decided that maybe this had not been a good idea. But they were determined to reach the top of the mountain nevertheless just because they could. With the hole in the ground averted, there shouldn't be any problem at all. And so they got up.

Or, rather, tried.

A root made them slip, their boots stepping over the smooth rocks they had been looking at before, failing to get a grip. With a last effort to stop themselves from falling to their death in such a stupid way, they reached up with their tiny little hands.

The scraps in their hands hurt, some dirt stirred, but they fell nonetheless. They cried out for help, the sky and everything aboveground decreasing in size…

But nobody came.

* * *

20XX - Years ago.

* * *

Snowdin. The place never changed, the scenery was just the same as it always was. Just, you know, edgier. Ever since the prince fell, it seemed like the kingdom just decided to collectively flip their shit out. He never thought this would happen to the nice little town he remember in passing. It's not like he remember all that much, though. Just… Maybe?

His mind was kind of scattered, his memories of the "before" were not much better and they could be described as spotty at the best of time.

Guess that much ketchup was messing with his mind.

And talking about ketchup-

"Hey Grillbz, put it on my tab. Get me another one for the way?" Sans never was the most energetic monster. Kinda.

Taking the ketchup from Grillby's to his station just seemed **so** much work. Still, he would persevere. He needed to if he wanted to try to stay awake for the usual time Papyrus goes to check on him. Heh, go figures, never trust the big brother to stay by himself doing nothing on an old wooden shack?

It's not like a human is going to fall here anytime soon. And even if they did, the old lady behind the door would try her damn hardest to try to avoid them to reach the rest of the Underground, even if it meant killing them. Not that much work to do. And oh boy, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, Asgore was going to get what was coming to him. Of that, there was no doubt in his mind.

"…" The flame elemental didn't say anything, his purple flame illuminating the place in an almost ethereal look. It was alluring and his bartender clothes were finely pressed and elegant, with just the perfect amount of wildness to his look. Neck exposed and his fire hair all back and styled.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't look at me like that, Grillbz. I'm not trying to steal the attention away from you, "hot" stuff."

Touching delicately the skeleton's skull and focusing on the black under his eyes, his purple flame seemed to shine with some blue in its core. Nearing the skeleton slowly, breath inches apart and deep magma eyes staring at the red pin pricks of magic in the eyesockets of the other monster…

He hummed and let go, going back to his initial position and his perfect purple flame.

"…" Grillbz walked away, just to come back with a bottle of ketchup and a disapproving head-shake.

"Oh, c'mon Grillbz, that wasn't so bad."

"…" Another disapproving look. Sans was on a roll, wasn't he?

"Actually, I think I'm all _fired_ up and ready to go. You know how it is when I'm not at my station in time. See ya later, pal." Said Sans, already getting up and going out into the cold air of Snowdin. Avoidance seemed the best course of action, after all.

Sans pulled up the end of his sweater over his mouth, careful not to get any snow in his metaphorical lungs. Like, he's a skeleton, but he still needs to breath? The disadvantages! He didn't want to breath any dust without noticing, thank you very much.

It was rare in this part of the Underground, with Asgore having his focus on more populated areas like Hotland and New Home, but still. Waterfall wasn't any better with most of the Royal Guard going there to the training grounds.

Actually, thinking about it, it was rare that almost no one wanted to go to the core.

Huh. Weird.

There was always something else going on in that place anyway, he couldn't exactly describe the feeling, but…

He could relate to the uneasiness of most monsters of the place, even if something at the back of his skull nagged at him that there was a valid reason to stay far from there.

It's not like he wanted or needed to go to the Core.

Lost in his thoughts, Sans had stopped in the middle of the town without moving for a few moments.

"Oh, crap, I'm gonna be late again! And this time I wasn't even sleeping!"

And so, he went on his way.

* * *

Toriel didn't think she was that bad of a mother, was she? But maybe she was, maybe she was just deluding herself in her own little fantasy.

After all, her first two children died in a tragic way full of pain and despair. They were so young, they had so much to live for… Her little Asriel and her sweetheart Chara. She missed them so much every day, it was so painful to think of them, of what happened when they tried to cross the barrier, only to come to a cold home to die. So wounded, so hurt.

She didn't know the specific part, she was no scientist, but when a monster fusions with a human soul, the human is still there somewhere. That was how the monster that opted for this fell in the war, after all.

She didn't even know, couldn't suspect, refused to suspect… And yet… All these years had passed, almost completely alone in the sealed Ruins. Trying to stop his husband from killing anymore. No more children would die if she had a say in it.

Her husband? No, she refused to think about him that way! Not anymore! What did that old goofy idiot expect from this path he had set monsterkind on? Peace? Revenge?!

They were all going to die! Most monsters nowadays only cared about their stats, their strength. It would be messy and over very quickly. What good did having high stats if you couldn't work with someone else to watch your back? Without the united front that monsterkind used to have?

What happened to that?!

Easy. Asgore happened. It was all his fault! Fighting violence with more violence would never work! The humans were stronger by nature and the monsters were decreasing in number with time, all the killings to get LV just accelerated that.

Most monsters didn't even know what LV, let alone EXP stood for. It was an acronym ideated by the Judges when monster and humans used to live in peace.

HOPE, LOVE, EXP…

Toriel was filled with hatred and grief.

Damn it, Asgore!

But maybe, just maybe, he was not the only one at fault, was he? What good was she doing anyway? Just there in the ruins, trying to keep all the human that fell safe and protected from the rest of the Underground.

And all of them ran away.

She really was a bad mother.

Toriel was filled with hate!

"Hmph! Now, where were those snails I had? I'm sure they were in the fridge somewhere…" maybe it was best not to think about it anymore.

A queen without her kingdom. A mother without her children. A spouse without her husband. An old lady without anyone to talk to…

"knock knock" came the sound from downstairs.

Well, she wasn't being fair to her only link with the rest of the Underground, was she? Six humans had crossed that door, just to die at Asgore's hand. One more soul, and it would all be over.

That seventh one, the last human soul. They needed to stay in the ruins, no matter what. Asgore would not succeed, because she will stop him. No matter the consequences. No matter the cost.

Even if she needed to kill them and go to stop Asgore herself.

* * *

 **So, there they are. Introducing the first characters on the story!**

 **The introductions should be over by the third chapter, I guess. I really wanted to try and make the characters justice. Not to make them bloodthirsty or aggressive just because I can. I want to give them reasons for the things they do, why try and stop Frisk, why they look and act like they do as opposed in the original Undertale.**

 **My general headcanon with Underfell was that it started out in a common setting with the original, but it deviated from there because something went wrong. Instead of becoming the characters we know and love, they became something else. Something dark, darker, yet darker. Ehem.**

 **So, that was it for the first chapter!**


	2. ARC I - Prologue II

**POSTED**

* * *

 **Hi!**

 **So, I forgot to say it on the first chapter, but credit where it's due.**

 **Undertale belongs to TobyFox.**

 **Underfell belongs to the fandom of Undertale in general.**

 **And the cover for this story is mine XD.**

 **So, with that out of the way, enjoy! Please take into account that any discrepancies with Underfell are caused by the AU of an AU thing and are just my headcanons for this characters.**

* * *

Undyne sat at the edge of the river in Waterfall, just looking at the recruits doing their usual training regimen. RG01 and RG02 were still buddy-buddy, and it pissed her off! But, well, as long as they were doing their jobs, she couldn't say anything. No one said she couldn't have a bit of fun, though.

"You run like kids! What is this?! A KINDERGARTEN! NO!" Raising her fist, she felt something inside of her, a warm feeling that overcame her from time to time, something indescribable, something…" WE'RE THE ROYAL GUARD! I'm going to show you losers how it's done!"

With that said, Undyne lunged at them with incredible speed and intent. RG01 and RG02 didn't have the time to get out of the way before their helmets clashed against each other. The captain's famous noogies at their best! Only the best! NGAAAAAH!

While messing around with that duo was fun, the rest of the guards had stopped to watch the incident. Not exercising, not moving to help either Undyne or the duo of monsters under her powerful grip! It pissed her off even more!

"And just tell me, what are you doing just standing there and staring? If I was a human, you would all be dead already!"

A trembling RG01 raised his arm, just moving it out of the way to have enough breath to speak:

"If you were a human…" panting, RG01 tried to keep going, struggling "… all the Underground would be… in flames… already…"

Silence overcame the training grounds in Waterfall, everyone just looking dumbfounded at RG01. To have the guts to tell that to the captain while being given a noogie as aggressive as hers…

Suddenly, a predatory smirk made its way into Undyne's face.

"DARN RIGHT, MAN! In fact, why don't we do a play spar? You are all monsters, pretty sure you know what it means…"

Everyone gulped in fear.

"I'M GOING THE HUMAN WHO KICKS ALL YOUR ASSES! NGAAHAHAHAHA!"

Undyne was pretty sure RG02 started to sweat from nervousness alone. They were fun to mess with, she thought while doing good on her statement and start beating them all single handedly. Fun, but not as fun as messing with the lanky and loud skeleton from Snowdin. She thought of what Papyrus would be up to right now, probably dragging his lazy brother around.

A chill crawled up her back.

Yeah, no, Papyrus could do whatever he wanted in Snowdin while being there in time for their seemingly random but carefully scheduled spars and trainings. She was not scared nor worried about that numbskull and she was certainly NOT afraid of the lazy and laid back skeleton that always seemed to hang around any area Papyrus was in. Not in the least!

Oh, screw it. Messing with the guards would take up a bit of her time, but she is sure she could manage a visit to Alphys before her meeting with Papyrus. Eh, positive. It would have to be enough, she is going to need her cool for later.

Asgore's request to see her for her monthly report could wait for a bit longer still. Is not like the old boss monster is going anywhere anytime soon.

She decided to just focus in the moment, seems like RG01 had escaped her noogie while she was thinking and was now trying to help RG02 to break out of her grip.

-Fuhuhuhuh- and with her shining yellow eyes, menacing and predatory, she went into an attack.

* * *

Alphys struggled to get the dog food to the, apparently, bathroom door. In reality it was a lift to her True Lab, the gore thing from above just a front for anyone who could break into what she uses as her house nowadays. The outside part was filled with chains and leather sofas. The mechanic stairs that were supposed to go up were made in a hurry and only went in one direction now.

Well, it's not like she couldn't try to fix that later, right? Right.

…

She really wasn't going to do that, apparently. At least not today. The Angel knew that dealing with the Amalgamates was hard enough, Alphys was exhausted. But she couldn't really show that now, could she?

Everything needed to be in perfect order. Just in case, just in case… Low lights that flicker from time to time? Check. Weird red and gray stains, that were purposefully and carefully added to the corners of the room and in some tiles in between, to look like dust and blood? C-c-c-ch-check. Chains with some moss on it on the farthest wall? Check. Mew Mew Killing Cutely posters and figurines? CHECK!

Eh…

Well, she just needed to get the food down for Endogeny if that was all taken care for. The Underground wasn't as safe as it used to be nowadays and one couldn't be sure of anything. But, nevertheless, she was positive that the rumors she had been spreading around with Mettaton's help, her reputation as the Royal Scientist and the recording she got from some of the amalgamates that she sometimes played upstairs… No one should bother her.

In fact, they may even ran away!

...

Not good for socializing, but it was better this way. She was still trying to get over the stuttering she developed from being socially awkward and all and, it's not like she couldn't fight! It's just… Well, Alphys wasn't particularly strong in magic terms or even stats.

Electric magic could be dangerous, Alphys knew, but it just wasn't strong enough to actually dust someone. Just to stun them and run away. But that would be a blow to her reputation that would make her free EXP for some out there.

She wasn't the best at being mean or scary, but… With all the cameras Underground in her network, she could bribe, threaten or manipulate monsters. She could even try to imitate the scariest out there! Like U-U-Undyne! She was so cool, so strong, so ho-

Anyways! There were lots of scary monsters out there she could emulate! Sadly, Undyne usually was in the training grounds which were off limits because of the King or at her home where, she could not! She was not a stalker!

…

Well, not that MUCH of a stalker… yet.

She could settle for another scary one? There were lots to pick!

She was particularly unnerved by the skeletons from Snowdin. They were so spooky. Maybe it was for the fact that they were that particular type of monster? But, thinking on it, it didn't really add up. That uncomfortable feeling always crawled up her back anytime the older skeleton, Sans, was passing her by in the corridors of the castle or in his (illegal?) hot dog stand in Hotland. The guy was EVERYWHERE. Alphys was pretty sure he would sell fried snow if he could, like, actually fry it!

Yet, the nagging feeling she had that she knew him from somewhere else didn't leave her.

With the food for Endogamy on the lift, she pressed down.

She would put that feeling away… again. For being everywhere, he never really showed up in any of her cameras except that one in the Ruins' door. Almost like he knew where they all were.

Alphys could almost recall having showed the locations to a lab partner, but that was ridiculous, right? She had never worked in the labs before being appointed as the new Royal Scientist, let alone with someone else!

The lift reached its destination and Alphys resumed her struggles with the dog food. She needed to review those old blueprints in one of the rooms of the True Lab. It was all written in some kind of coded language that was, thankfully, translated in some useful parts like the maintenance of the Core with a rather round font. Again, that seemed familiar.

Alphys shrugged it off.

 **Again.**

* * *

The Great and Terrific Papyrus was not having a good day. Not only had the snow messed up his carefully done puzzles, but his brother wasn't on his station!

He carefully checked the area, looking into the white snow for even a dot of gray. Dust mixed with snow was not that uncommon, so he couldn't be sure yet. He kept on searching.

There was no black and yellow coat anywhere near the station, at least.

This was troubling.

IF SANS WAS NAPPING AT HOME, HE SWEARS HE'S-

Actually, no. That was the first place he checked for his lazy brother. He didn't see him in the way, so he could probably be at the Ruins' door again or in, ugh, Grillby's. It was probably the latter, the more he thought about it. He stomped on the ground, frustrated, before catching himself and stopping the nervous tic.

What did his brother do at the Ruins' door anyway? It had been sealed off for a long time and no one answered when the local teens tried to mess with it, so it was probably empty on the other side too.

Probably.

He did not like the idea of someone on the other side interacting only with his brother or anything like that. Even though Papyrus himself talked to Flowey every once in a while. AGH! This kind of thing wouldn't happen if Sans just told him what he was doing or, anything at all!

His lazy brother was so troublesome! Papyrus knew his health wasn't the best, even though he never got the opportunity to check it. It wasn't that Sans didn't get in fights, Papyrus knew he did. It's just, he never got to see it!

His brother doing something that was not napping, punning or going to Grillby's seemed surreal, and yet, all the evidence pointed to it. The tears on his jacket, some random dust even if in small doses, which meant he at least hadn't killed his opponent. Shouldn't he hope for it? Papyrus just didn't want to let go of the image of his older brother when they were younger, alone in a dark world but still refusing to dust anyone else. He did dust someone, though? His head hurt. Whatever.

That lazybones was going to get the lecture of the year!

…

Because he was still alive and kicking, punning his way out of encounters and unpleasant monster out there somewhere, right?

When the snow crunched behind him, Papyrus quickly summoned a bone with his blue magic, pointing and aiming towards the sound. He quickly let go with a gasp when the hollow eyesockets of his brother stared at him, his creepy smile still up.

Trying to steady the horrified rhythm of his soul, he quickly made the blue bone disappear without a trace. He almost hit his brother! He knew that Sans' health wasn't the best! How would a blue attack even affect him? Would it be too much?

"So, uh, I noticed you were happy to see me" said Sans, shrugging.

With terror in his soul and still shaken of his brother almost dying because of him, Papyrus glared.

"WELL, YOU WEREN'T AT YOUR STATION, WERE YOU? YOU JUST HAD TO BE THE USUAL LAZY BAG OF BONES AND SKIP YOUR WORK TO, WHAT? DELUDE YOURSELF AT GRILLBY'S THAT YOU HAVE FRIENDS?!" Wait, that didn't sound right. Papyrus didn't mean to say that, he was just worried that-

"Heheh, well. You've made your point of view very clear. _Ice_ to be here to bug ya and all that. If you don't want me around, then don't. Come."

Papyrus was speechless for a moment. Dumbfounded with himself. His brother just wasn't seeing reason and kept being purposefully spiteful again!

"YOU FIND THIS FUNNY OR SOMETHING?! I CAN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE FOR A SECOND WITHOUT YOU MOCKING SOMEONE, IT'S LIKE YOU'RE ASKING TO BE DUSTED!" Papyrus was shaking. With fear, with anger, he didn't even know. His brother was just so frustrating, sometimes. But it was still his brother, the one who took care of him, the one who used to tell him bedtime stories, the one who taught him how to talk himself out of a fight, the one who-

"Papyrus, I'm not in the mood. Just leave me alone."

"WHAT? SO YOU COULD WASTE AWAY AND ROT LIKE THE WEAKLING YOU ARE! YOU SHOULD BE THANKFUL THAT I, THE GREAT AND TERRIFIC PAPYRUS, IS EVEN BOTHERING WITH YOU AT ALL!"

…the one he just kept upsetting over and over again, pushing him away.

Words were never his forte, were they?

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. The situation is clear now. I'm going to the Ruins' door. Later" said Sans, waving his right hand before carefully putting it back in his coat "… or not, Great and terrific Papyrus."

Papyrus just stood there, his brother Sans so upset he didn't even notice his magic pupils were not manifested in his eyesockets yet. Maybe it was for the best he didn't summon them. Papyrus probably wouldn't be able to deal with what he would see, all those negative emotions he caused his brother again and again.

Another crunch of snow, smaller this time. More like something popping out of the ground.

"Wow, you really suck at this, don't you?"

Irritated, Papyrus just sighed, his figure slumping slightly.

"Shut up, Flowey."

* * *

 **Gosh, I love Undyne and Alphys, but they are so hard to write. Like, I want to be cannon but at the same time not. And good old Papyrus, interacting with a nice Flowey for a change. Honestly, their interactions are heavily implied in the game itself, why don't people use that more if it's not for the normal Undertale?**

 **Also, warning: when I say that this is filled with my** **headcanons, I really mean it. Like, I have a headcanon for just about anything! This will make itself known with time.**

 **Please tell me what you think. Reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome!**


	3. ARC I - Prologue III

**Hi!**

 **We're finally finishing the inicial introductions in this chapter! There is actually a couple of characters that will come into play later, but their roles aren't relevant in most arcs like the ones in the Prologue, so...**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Grillby saw Sans go away with a worried glance. He didn't really like the idea of the skeleton going to meet his brother on his post. Especially if Sans was late.

Honestly, those boys. Grillby sighed, picking up a round form of glass, slowly letting the flames on his hand mold it into a more thin shape before starting the process of creating more glasses for the bar. Everyone who took their time to get to know the brothers could see that they cared for each other.

Not talking was just doing them harm, but Grillby couldn't do anything about it. Sans was good at avoiding topics and Papyrus didn't even remember the time when the fire elemental took care of the skeleton brothers. Honestly, Grillby didn't remember all that much himself, a thin layer of something like static overloading his senses every time he tried to focus on them.

Still, he remembered enough. It was troublesome to see them like this. Papyrus was very socially inept, never interacting with other kids his age back in the day because all of the fighting and violence going on around him. He seemed to have picked up some bad habits from Gaster too, of the little he could remember of the previous Royal Scientist.

The similarities were only making Sans distance himself more. And while that was not fair to Papyrus, Sans didn't do it in a conscious way. They were very close before the Gaster fiasco and that event only seemed to make Sans more protective of his little brother.

It looked like it backfired… He just couldn't run away from the puns at this point of time, it seemed. Not even in his own mind.

Grillby could always guess what kind of mood Sans was in depending on what he ordered. Mustard was the usual nowadays and a good sign, probably. Bitter and angry, but not particularly upset.

Ketchup though… For Sans to order ketchup, either his mood or his health must be really low. This was bad and it could probably end up in more ketchup in the near future. If it did, Sans and Papyrus had a fight, probably.

Honestly, kids these days… But they were not kids anymore, were they?

Well, one could wear that spiked armor of his around the town and the other could have seen more than someone his age should have, remember more than most monster did too. But deep down, they were still the same little terrors he cared for. With their silly fights and huge arguments.

It just, escalated. The situation "heated" up with time.

Grillby groaned. Sans was rubbing off on him and that was a complete no. He had his gorgeous flames to take care of, his silent but watchful and dangerous aura and his completely charming light!

He decided to flirt with the slim bunny monster who run the inn. He did not to think about the mock flirting he did with Sans just to throw everyone else off about their relationship.

He did not.

Except he kind of did, his flames changing to blue when he didn't notice in some parts from the worry.

* * *

Flowey didn't know what to do anymore. He tried, he really did ( _he did not, could not_ ), but it seemed like the monsters just kept ignoring his suggestions to try and be nice. It was harder to keep going most days. Being nice didn't seem to work very well.

It was difficult, more so because he couldn't really empathize with them, understand their struggles. Sure, he didn't have a soul, but for some reason he kept some of his emotions from when he was alive and a normal monster himself.

Just, you know, the positive ones.

But the rest of the emotions were important too! Fear meant staying safe even if he didn't really need it because of the reset power. Anger meant justifying himself and his actions, to stand up for himself! Chara was not here to do that for him anymore ( _Chara was **dead**_ ).

And that was the top of the cake! It seemed like, even if he loved Chara as his sibling, he couldn't even get sad or upset about their death. It made his feelings seem kind of fake at this point, and he didn't like it.

( _Asriel was upset, he was grieving. He just wanted to see Chara one more time, just one more time. He was wishing this was just a bad dream, he couldn't deal, he just couldn't. Chara was dead after all. He was the one who messed up! The one who truly deserved to die was him! Not Chara! And they died for what? A bunch of monsters that tore each other apart? They were mocking Chara's sacrifice… They would all pay. He would make sure of it_ ).

So, Flowey just continued to look at all the bright colors of the garden in the palace! ( _Those terrible, horrible flowers that looked like him now. His dust, his corpse for f*ck's sake, was in there!_ ) They were so pretty!

But he needed to go before Asgore came. He wasn't really like the father he remembered ( _killing humans. Children at that! Would he have done it to Chara if they were the second human to fall and not the first? He cared for these humans, tried to help them. Only for his father to take it all away. Not even resetting did any good. He… kind of gave up. Did that make him a bad person?_ ). Maybe he could go to the Ruins to visit Chara's final resting place? His sibling must be so lonely right now. Oh well, he would just wait a bit more before going.

What if Toriel was there? ( _What was up with his parents and terrible life decisions?_ ). The lady was very lonely, but she didn't want to be interrupted or helped by anyone, except that lazy skeleton from Snowdin. Well, it couldn't be helped ( _He cried. His mom was so sad…_ ).

And talking about that lazy skeleton reminded the flower, he could go see how Papyrus was doing! Flowey was trying to help him fix his relationship with his older brother. In a world like this, family should stay together, take example from him in what to avoid. With a nudge in the right direction, he was sure the skeleton brothers would go back to being close again ( _except he was not. This wasn't right, this wasn't how it works. He knows this! So then why-_ ) like in the old times!

Yes, that sounded about right. He was going to go help Papyrus with his lacking communication skills! It was always very funny ( _it was not. Poor Papyrus was trying and Asriel was making it worse on the long run_ ) and ended with hilarious results!

When the door of the garden opened, Flowey went deep into the ground, like he wasn't there to begin there. He was happy! He should go to Snowdin directly.

( _Asriel cried_ ).

* * *

Asgore sighed, watering the flowers of his garden while the tea was brewing in the kitchen. It seemed like it was a new day for the Underground.

It smelt like golden flowers and tea.

It smelt like **dust**.

* * *

 **And done! There are more character to come in the future, so don't worry if you don't see your favorite** **just yet. Their role may be relevant but I'm not going to add them just yet (l** **ike Mettaton and Napstablook, for example! I may or may not introduce the dummy that later transforms into Mad Mew Mew. I haven't decided yet** **).**

 **Also, headcanon: Grillby isn't cleaning glasses in the game, but making them! In Underfall, the fights that break out in the bar leave Grillby with his little hobby as more of a necessity on some days.**

 **With this concludes the ARC I: Prologue.**

 **I had these three chapter almost all figured out. Now comes the tough work so please be patient with me. Updates will probably be once a week or so from now on.**

 **Tell me what you think. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome! =D**

 **Comming next - ARC II: The Judge and The Damned.**


	4. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned I

**POSTED**

* * *

 **Hello!**

 **We start with the actual story this time. Please keep in mind that this story is not linear. If you are confused by this setting or something, there are basically three major points of the timeline that will have a lot of importance:**

 **·20XX - Years ago : before Frisk falls into the Underground. The monsters aren't really all that hopeful and we will get to see the kill or be killed way taking shape!**

 **·19XX - Years ago : is an Underground that hasn't been affected by Gaster's disappearance through time and space. Yet. It's fairly Undertale like, but it will be important in the long run nonetheless.**

 **·20XX - Now : Frisk has fallen! Prepare yourself for a wild ride, because this human child is determined to make it out alive of the Underground.**

 **And that's it, I guess. Enjoy!**

* * *

THE JUDGE AND THE DAMNED

* * *

20XX - Years ago

* * *

There was a time when this world was not violent. A time when the monster were filled with hope, love and compassion. Such times are lost on the present days, but there are still a few monsters around that remember them with fondness instead of with bitter longing.

Sans was not one of those monsters.

It wasn't that he was not happy then. Don't get him wrong, he was. But the painful memories are too much and he has a fog on his mind that doesn't let him remember correctly. He knows that he was under Grillby's wing, for a time. And yet, he can also think of a time when he was alone with his little brother in this hellhole. It didn't make sense.

It was like he had two different sets of memories and people only remember one or the other. Never both like him.

Nobody had noticed something wrong yet, even after all the time that had passed since certain events. It was like there is something preventing them from figuring all of this out. There were things that seemed out of place, but the monsters just kept going like they didn't even realize it. Like nothing was wrong at all.

But it was.

Welp, no need to think so hard about something that wasn't going to get solved anytime soon. He wondered, though, about what he was forgetting. Because he was, he knew he was. Grillby remembered him, at least. The one timeline that Sans liked out of the two his life is torn in. The one where he was cared for and got help for Papyrus, where he could still dream and hope for a better future for monsterkind. A world where he still had his little brother with him, where said little brother trusted him. A world where it wasn't kill or be killed.

He may as well go pay him a visit.

Good old days. How he missed when Papyrus was still little, when the Underground was still friendly and full of hope, when Gaster-

(FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! ERROR! ERROR! 404 NOT FOUND!)

Static...

Sans collapsed in his station.

* * *

19XX - Years ago

* * *

Smiling, Sans was holding his little brother's hand. He was happy, mostly. Even if he had to go to the lab fairly early on the day, Sans was confident his little brother would be able to make himself entertained with the puzzles the bunny lady on the inn had laying around.

Monsters didn't seem to travel all that much nowadays and, even if they did, the Underground was little enough for the monsters to come and go home almost in the same day. Snowdin was pretty quite anyway, with the same town folk and the same routines. It had a charming aura that he couldn't explain, but it felt safe.

This, however, meant that there was not that much business for the bunny to take profit of, having to rely on her family to push her to meet the end of the month. It was kind of sad, but because of this, she remodeled the lower floor to serve as a kindergarten of sorts.

It worked somehow, so this gave him the perfect excuse to let his baby brother as far of the labs reach as possible. Sans didn't really like how Papyrus would stare into the lava, tilting his body forward to take a closer look. The lab wasn't a safe place, anyway. Always bustling with activity and busy monsters that didn't seem to notice anything else going out outside of their own little worlds.

He himself was just old enough to be allowed to even work there, just helping out in the calculous and errands. Basically? An over-glorified errand boy. But he got to see the experiments up close, so there was that. Everything was so cool.

He would have asked Grillby to watch Papyrus today as usual, but the fire elemental was always running ragged around them just taking care of the two babybones out of his work hours, let alone in them. Grillby didn't really mind all that much. Their guardian was just that "cool" for being made out of fire and magma.

Those past days had been pretty difficult for everyone, though. Especially for the monsters in higher positions like the Royal family or the Royal Scientist. Gaster was a very busy man indeed, but Sans didn't mind staying with Grillby instead of with him, it worked out for everyone better this way.

And he had always been low key afraid of Gaster bringing home his work. Poor Papyrus wouldn't be able to get what was going on.

Grillby would protect them. The red flames made him were warm and always welcoming. A nice change.

Letting Papyrus go to the renovated inn, Sans started walking away. Waving to some monsters that greeted him on his way, he decided to make a stop at Grillby's first before leaving to Hotland.

The bar was filled with the canine unit as usual. It seemed like it was a family tradition to become a Royal Guard at this point. Good old Fenrir and the kind Furray were his favorites to hang with, even if they were adults and Sans only saw them in passing in the forest or Hotland. Their son Doggo was okay, he guessed, but he couldn't really do all that much with how bad his vision was. It was really funny to mess with him a little, though.

They were seated in the big table at the middle of the left aisle. Approaching quietly, Greater Dog seemed to notice him, but his a quick gesture to keep quiet and a meaningful look to his oblivious cousin Doggo seemed to buy his silence.

Next to Doggo, Sans clapped.

"Who's there? I heard something!"

Staying as still as possible, both Greater and Sans tried to contain their giggles. The adults not paying them any mind.

Sans clapped again.

"I know someone is there! Whoever you are, stop it!"

Nothing again. Poor Doggo looked like his head was going to fall off with how much he looked from side to side. He was alert, so Sans couldn't move his hands to clap this time without getting caught. He was saved by an unexpected ally!

Greater Dog clapped.

They both were very still. Soon enough, Doggo started freaking out. Hilarious, dude. Hilarious. He was barking like mad! His parents were looking at him weirdly and Greater Dog was just sitting there with a smug look on his face.

It was too much for Sans. He started laughing like there was no tomorrow. When Doggo calmed down a bit, he seemed to notice Sans, though.

"Ugh, Sans! Not again! That was the third time this week" Doggo whined.

This only made Sans laugh harder.

"Stop it! Sans, is not that funny. And you keep playing the same trick over and over again!"

"Oh, yeah?" Sans straightened, fixing his clothes a bit - And you keep falling for it over and over again!

This time, Greater Dog's smug face seemed to intensify.

"Oh my god, Greater. You're supposed to be on my side!" Only a bark seemed to returned his words. "Yeah, you keep laughing, we'll see who laughs last…"

Leaving a grumpy Doggo and a very pleased with himself Greater Dog, Sans turned to go talk to Grillby. Only to be met with said monster's disappointed face™.

"Oh, c'mon Grillbz, that was hilarious."

"…"

Sighing, Sans tried to calm himself and act more maturely for the peace of mind of his guardian. He was going to the labs, after all. It wasn't that he couldn't have fun there or anything, but everyone was very serious and asked the same in return of everyone who went to work even remotely close the experiments. Gaster the first of them all, always so polite and calm it actually seemed to bother some monsters at times.

"You have anything I need to take over to the Doc?"

Letting the topic go, Grillby grabed a burger and some fries in a box. They came with a side packet of mustard and other one of ketchup. No mayonnaise though. Shame, Sans was in the mood of some bland stuff. Guess ketchup would have to do for now.

"Wow, burgers **and** fries? What's the occasion, big guy?" Grillby took a finger to the height of were his mouth was supposed to be if, you know, he had one. Blowing some smoke from his magma core, the message was clear. It was a secret- Okay? Just remember to pick up Papyrus later from the inn, today is gonna be a long day at the labs. Looks like the King is going to visit soon to see their progress or something.

Nodding, Grillby went back to his initial position at the bar. Sans headed out to the chilly air once again, this time without making any stops on the way.

Hotland it is.

* * *

Grillby was worried again.

Not because of anything in particular, he was this way. Sans called him a helicopter parent sometimes and maybe there was a bit of truth in that statement after all. That boy did so much for his little brother that it was heartwarming. Still, the labs?

For being a flame monster, Grillby didn't like Hotland all that much. The stirring lava all around the place only made him dizzy, even if his little cousin Fuku seemed to love it.

His power had always been too wild to keep on check, sadly. That was part of what drove him to Snowdin in the first place. His bar was made out of wood like most buildings in town, sure, but he always made sure the walls were a bit humid so it wouldn't catch on fire. If he ever lost control of his power, The Angerl forbid it, he had the fire scape… Literally. Sans' pranks were getting out of hand.

Which drove him to his worries yet again. Sans was a good kid, he really was. But that was kind of the problem.

Not him being good or nice, no. The kid part. Sans had left the three stripes some time ago now, placing him on the teen category. Not a child anymore while technically still being called that. He was so not looking forward to that little terror's puberty and all that came with it. Being one of the last skeleton monsters Underground didn't help matters. The only ones that had a way to help him were Gerson or Gaster.

There was no way he was letting Sans' wild little mind with Gerson.

Gaster wasn't any better, even if it seemed like the most responsible monster out there. What a joke. Everyone had to be a little loose up in the head to have that kind of view and job. But at least Sans wouldn't go and try to fight everything that moves and some more that doesn't.

Probably.

Still, coming of age was going to be difficult for Sans. Without any other skeleton to be there constantly to help him out, it was going to be trying for everyone. Skeletons always possessed weird powers. Having some structure in common with humans and having more concentrated magic to be able to move around, their magic worked in powerful but unexpected ways.

And Grillby had already started to see the signs of it manifesting. Glasses moving in their shelves, the tables trying to lift themselves up into the air so much that Grillby had to fuse said tables to the floor… Those were obviously the first signs of blue attacks, even if they were the weirder ones he had ever seen or heard of. It should increase gravity, not change it in the other direction.

This was expected. This was normal, Grillby told himself. Everything would be okay in the end.

Even if it wouldn't. It would only get weirder and weirder the longer this was going on until he unlocked that special and unique magic that would define Sans' role in life.

Looking at his bar filled with patrons…

Grillby was filled with a bad feeling.

.

.

.

* * *

 **END**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Kidding. It's just the end of the first chapter. This arc is not going to be all that long, though.**

 **Headcanon -** **In this universe, the more stripes you have, the longer you're going to be a child. 1 stripe means you are almost an adult and you're developing your special attack (16-19 years). 2 stripes means you are developing your special ability like how Undyne can trap you in her fight (13-15 years). 3 stripes mean you're almost a teen and you have your basic magic attacks (11-12 years). More than that all have the same meaning, which is the one of a child without any actual magic ability yet.**

 **Tell me what you think, even if it seems silly. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!**

 **NellB out!**


	5. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned II

**Hello!**

 **This is NellB here with the next part of the Arc II - The Judge and The Damned.**

 **If you want to see more of a specific character, tell me so! I know the direction I want this fanfic to take, but adding things wouldn't make that change. It would only make the story a bit longer?**

 **Disclaimer :** Undertale belongs to TobyFox, Underfell to the fandom community of Undertale and the cover art is mine XD.

 **This fanfic isn't Sans centric, even if this arc does revolve around him. Just a heads up. All the main characters I introduced in Arc I - Prologue and then some, will get their time to shine!**

 **With that out of the way, enjoy!**

* * *

Sans was in a pretty good mood. Even if Hotland was really troublesome and while he didn't enjoy the heat, it wasn't like it bothered him.

Sure, the place was always filled with machines that did one thing or another and the puzzles to get from one place to the next were not very helpful. The monsters in the area were always complaining that they should change them to something more direct, seeing as you had to go around the lava up and down all the time. But without any ground to work on, what were they going to do? Launch people across the rifts?

That didn't sound very safe.

Sans couldn't get full credit for the idea, though. He had seen the blueprints of something similar being thrown around the lab. It seemed interesting for a time but books about engineering were too hard to find for Sans to actually bother with them. The more theoretical aspects, in the other hand?

The Doc had plenty of that kind of stuff in his house in Snowdin and he didn't go back all that much, opting to stay the night at the labs to look over his experiments. Terrible for the Doc's health if anyone asked him, he was loosing on Papyrus' time and attentions.

But Sans couldn't really mind as much as he wanted to. That just meant that his little brother spent more time around big bro Sans. Even if he couldn't really share these happy memories with the Doc? Sans couldn't bring himself to care.

His little brother was so cool. He actually tried to make his first snowman that very same week. It ended as a lump in the snow because it crashed in on itself, but it was awesome nonetheless. Sans ended up destroying his own snowman to make it look like his little brother's. He swears that from now on, all his snowman's are going to be just lumps.

Anyway, he was rambling. It's just that everytime Sans' thoughts went to Papyrus it felt like he could go on with the topic for days. Sans couldn't understand how Gaster could just brush Paps off with an "I'm busy". It was okay at first, maybe. Being a scientist was an all time job, no disconnecting, because even in your free time, a breakthrough could make itself known in your mind. Papyrus was still a bit too young to understand this, or so Sans thought.

Some time ago, Papyrus was still asking after Gaster. Now, he didn't even bother. It didn't sit well with his big brother's instinct until he asked Paps the reason.

He answered that if Sans could help out in the labs because he knew some science stuff and Papyrus wasn't very good at that, he could throw around ideas for puzzles!

Sans was so proud.

It probably wouldn't be needed if Garfield, that feline monster that always seemed to follow Gaster around, figured out how to make the Hotland puzzles work, but he didn't have the heart to tell Papyrus that. He probably would end up saying something like: your puzzles were so cool the folk didn't even know what to do! Great for design, bad for convenience.

Yeah, that may work. He had time to figure it out, though.

Sighing, the skeleton reached for his access card in the front of his labcoat and went to do the puzzles. At least he didn't have to do the ones in Waterfall, those were just time-consuming and he was in a tight schedule as it was. Asking the River Person for a ride was always a good idea if he was around. That boat, though. It was a special attack! Sans was sure, even if the monster didn't say anything on the matter neither confirming or denying it. And a sentient one at that!

So cool! He wanted something like that in his future adult life!

Some unnecessary complex puzzles later and Sans was ready for yet another busy day of being an over-glorified errand boy for the Royal Scientist. He just hoped Gaster wouldn't send him to Snowdin again for something as simple as taking the paperbag of food back to Grillbz. He literally lived there! And Gaster supposedly did too.

But you don't argue with Gaster.

Unless you want to troll him, that is. After all, Gaster was still his (FZZZZZZZ! ERROR! ERROR!) and the arguing seemed pretty tiring. Probably wouldn't have any actual results, either.

"Good morning, Sans. How are you in this fine evening?"

…

Think about the guy too much and he shall appear. Sans shouldn't even be surprised at this point.

The monster was very tall in comparison to Sans' own height, looming like a bad omen with his stern face. If he was anyone else he would be terrified of even talking to him. Well, he was, for a time. He kind of got used to it, the Doc always stern-faced even in the most hilarious of situations. Man, if only he could prank him without feeling bad about it afterwards. It probably wasn't a good idea to do that in the Labs either, maybe he could try a joke or two. Gaster sure needed it.

"S'up, Doc? Grillbz sends his two usuals today, so there's a skele **ton** of food. But anyway, what was that thing about someone important coming to the Labs?" said Sans, trying to get inside info and all that. He would like to know what was going on in more detail. Usually, if the King wanted to know about sciency stuff, it would be Gaster going over to the castle, not the other way around.

Gaster didn't tell him much nowadays when at first he would ramble on and on for hours. Apparently, he had some new pet project? Garfield said so last time Sans _politely asked_ him. Sans was pretty proud of his creepy face, it was hard to get as good at it as he was now!

"Not much, I am afraid. Even if there is the matter of the King requesting a visit to the Laboratory, the rest of the scientific community in the building has been notified. I assume you already knew that." Sans could only laugh, a bit nervous about overhearing some things. It wasn't like he wanted to hear the hushed conversations of the people in the Lab. Much. Inside info and gossip were parts of what made the place so interesting, after all. "It might be something to do with his own habit of cooking when worrying about some matter."

Okay, that was disappointing. Once again, the Royal scientist used a lot of words to say nothing. If he couldn't get inside information now or gossip, there wasn't much else Sans could do in there until someone requested something. It wasn't too late, though, if he used a different approach it might work. The skeleton monster was almost out of ideas but maybe starting with a jab or two to Gaster's work would do the trick.

Maybe he could try to have some fun while at it?

"So, what are you gonna show to his Kingliness? Garfield's stats of how much the people complain about the weather irregularities in the Underground? Or Kid's drawings on the fridge of his mom in the lab coat?"

Gaster smiled.

"Well, certainly not that. I was thinking about showing him how the development on the Core was going. It was the main reason for his request to visit, after all. But then, my assumptions in the matter have led me to a bit of a situation. I must try to keep my other projects going even if the king doesn't sound convinced. The human research is far too important to let go of at this point in time."

So boring and anticlimactic.

Sans' original idea of messing with the Doc didn't work out as expected, but he was a comedian at heart! Even if he was just imitating Mr. Drake's show routine in the privacy of his room and didn't do that much else. Yet. Still! The show must go on!

"So, you telling me you still go to the Dumps to look for kids cartoons?"

Gaster's face was a poem. Jackpot.

"No, no, no. Sans, that is not it. We must try and understand their culture if we ever hope of attempting to escape this prison the humans have led us to. It is important" said Gaster, his face all stern.

"Yeah, obviously is not because you enjoy the KameHameHa."

Awkward silence. Honestly, Sans loved seeing the Doc struggle sometimes. It was hilarious. And the avoidance of eye contact was pretty obvious. His expression as a whole… Indescribable. Gold, this was pure gold. How he wished he was allowed to have a camera in this place. Or, you know, own one.

"Even in the improbable case of that being true, you must acknowledge the possibilities of developing a laser as powerful as that one would bring for us."

"Oh, yeah. No, I know that. You see, the thing about those cartoons? Not really good with the physical aspects of it. What is the difference between a normal human and a magical human? They believe they come from space or something, their magic being caused by the different blood? Which type would that even be, C? And don't get me started on the physics of that thing, it's so unstable that…" And Sans rambled. And rambled. Honestly, this may have been the longest rant Sans had gone into in a while.

Yet another awkward silence. Gaster was gaping, somehow. Even without lips he managed to pull it off.

"Sans, have you been reading my old research and material?"

Sans almost wanted to swear. Caught red handed.

"Uh… Maybe?"

Awkward silence. Gaster needed to get out more if all his conversations were this way which, Sans knew, they usually were. What a dork.

"It is… Rather difficult on this time and age to find someone interested in science. Let alone someone who actually seems to understand some of the more complex aspects of the theoretical aspects. Monsters nowadays are all about the practice approach…" Sans wasn't sure where the Doc was going with this? "… Sans… Would you like… Maybe… Work with me on my newest project? I'll teach you everything you need to know for it, if you are up to the challenge it will offer."

Oh The Angel.

Sans said yes in a soulbeat.

* * *

20XX - Years later/ago.

* * *

Papyrus sighed again. Flowey was gone like he was never there in the first place, deep into the ground. He wanted to do that sometimes too nowadays, for the ground to swallow him hole and just disappear, even for a little while. But as the little monster says, he must persevere!

He honestly just wanted to talk to Sans like he used to and didn't want to upset him anymore. But it didn't seem like he knew how to do that nowadays. Papyrus knew it wasn't his own or his brother's fault, not really. He was way too great to be at fault and his brother was always too closed off to say things outright. No need to fight against one's own nature!

If his brother kept going to the Ruins' Door to avoid him, though, he would just have to barge right in!

Except that maybe that wasn't a good idea, the longer he thought about it. Flowey usually gave good advice in relation to his brother and their kind of broken bond of brothers, he guessed. But his flower... acquittance, was rather pushy at times, even without realizing it. It was like he didn't care for his safety or something, like that was someone else's problem. He just pops up with that cheery attitude of his whenever he thinks he can put his own two cents about a situation.

Not every monster dealt well with loud noises, attacking on instinct alone most of the time.

Papyrus couldn't not relate. In this world of theirs, everything was a possible threat. Even if Snowdin was an almost untouched place, the aggressive policy of the rest of the Underground influenced the monster that inhabited it greatly. Not for the first time, the tall and loud skeleton asked himself if there was a reason why this happened, but he was thankful nonetheless. He felt like he could relax, just a bit, while walking confidently into the woods.

The woods were plagued with teenagers that were coming of age, sure, but they were mostly harmless and were out in the open more for their own safety and that of their families. Specially those who couldn't control their special abilities just yet. Snowdin was the perfect place for the kids to develop their own potential with the Canine Unit and the Skeleton brothers themselves making sure they would be as safe as possible, from both a human or another monster looking to improve their stats.

No one was killing children if he had any say in it. He may be a sentry, he may be a monster, but he still had standards.

Papyrus guessed that he should leave Sans to himself, leave him his space. Even if it contradicted Flowey's usual advice, he decided to trust this hunch of his. Sans was his brother, not that flower's. **His**.

He would try to make something that Sans would eat and was not infested with grease, that would do the trick of making his brother feel better. Maybe spaghetti? It was the only thing he mostly knew how to cook and it was very nutritional.

He would need a bit more of help with his cooking, though. Which reminded him, he should go to meet Undyne. The lady monster was rather harsh but she had earned his respect. She was not going to let her down and maybe this time he could convince her to let him into the Royal Guard as more than a sentry.

Not likely.

Still, he would persevere anyway. There was no way he was going to miss a meeting and not show her what he was made of! He was the Great and Terrific Papyrus, after all, and he would show her what she was missing on by not letting him on a higher position! She would see…

Papyrus would make sure of it!

* * *

19XX - Years ago.

* * *

Hotland's puzzles were messy and they were so not helping her by being in the way. She wanted to have everything ready to work in the Labs in time for her to meet the Royal family. Her mentor mentioned that they were going to be there soon.

Honestly, she usually worked from her home in New Home as she was not old enough to be allowed into a restrained zone such as the Labs were. Garfield was very accommodating that way, offering her and her two kind of sisters, in everything but type of monster, a new home in the capitol. The feline monster was very kind in his own way and it seemed like her speciality of working with mechanics had caught the Royal Scientist's attention for a special project!

Alphys didn't know where she would be if not for Garfield. Probably still in the Dumps with Catty and Bratty. Those two were a handful but treated each other like family. This sweet new job would allow them the spare material they needed to fix some of the things from the Dumps that came from above, what the humans threw away. But, it also meant that Alphys wouldn't be able to see the other two, even if the economical push would benefit the three greatly. She would need to move to the Labs until the experiment was done or didn't need their attention anymore.

It wasn't like they couldn't see each other or anything. Still, she didn't know how long this experiment would take and it would be the longest the three of them were separated. It was better to not explain the situation fully as to not worry the feline and reptile duo, she would be back soon enough.

From living in the Dumps as a homeless monster to working all day on the Labs with her own position and safe place to stay. It sounded like a dream come true.

If only those puzzles in Hotland were out of the way, the moving out of her personal things and research material to the Labs would be so much faster!

* * *

 **And end of the second chapter of this arc!**

 **Please, tell me what you think about this story. Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!**

 **NellB out!**


	6. EXTRA - GIFTMAS SPECIAL

**Hi!**

 **This is kind of a Xmas special, I guess. I really wanted to do something like this. It's part of the arc of The Judge and The Damned as that is the current arc, though. English is not my first language so if you see a mistake somewhere, please tell me so I can fix it.**

 **Disclaimer:** Undertale belongs to TobyFox, Underfell to the Undertale fandom as a whole and the cover art is mine.

 **With that out of the way, enjoy!**

* * *

EXTRA - GIFTMAS

* * *

19XX - Years ago

* * *

The harsh weather acted up again. Snowdin had always been relentless but more so on this time of the year. Wether it had been because of the accumulated magic of the year manifesting at once or something like that, they didn't know. The Underground's weather had always been weird anyway. It was impossible for a closed space to develop so many climates that were dependent on the actual sky for it to not be related to magic in some way, they just didn't know how.

It was always the same, though. It would start snowing, snowflakes glittering on the air before slowly and peacefully falling to the ground, giving it another layer that would become slippery ice with enough time. This was a normal thing, given that their town was known as Snowdin. However, it wouldn't stop. No matter how much time everyone spent indoors, the snow wouldn't stop falling, thicker and thicker as time went on. And then the blizzard would begin.

Such a sight to behold. The blizzard inspired both awe and fear in the souls of monsters, especially those that usually resided in the forest. The local teens would go to the Inn to take refuge and the whole town would help each other out during these times of need. If anyone was outside at this time of the year in the Underground, they would probably be dead because of the cold, no matter what type of monster they were. At first, nobody knew this and they went on with their lives as normal.

That was how the first few died.

It was okay, Sans thought, because now they knew and they always spent their time indoors. They knew what to look for, the signs. It was vital if you were a resident in Snowdin, parents teaching the new generations since they were little. Warnings, tales and legends started. Some people even thought of the possibility of it being a human year what caused it, the Barrier acting as if provoking a rebound of all the magic inside. Nobody knew if it really was a year or not, or even the cause of it, but both Gaster and Grillby would always be so relieved that their houses didn't get damaged in the blizzard that they would always reunite after the phenomenon and have a huge meal all together. It was nice to see the scientist at home, so relaxed.

Such a contrast to the Doc's daily life.

It had started earlier this time, the peaceful snow falling thicker and thicker by the moment while everyone went to do their things. Sans always wondered if the human year theory had some merit, but there was no way to test it out. Was it night or day when it started? Was the sky as relentless outside? Did the humans know?

The white scenery had something alluring to it. It was probably an effect of this weird shiny snow, but it was hard to resist its pull. He wanted to go out and enjoy the snow, go out to play with the rest of young monsters before the weather was too much and they needed to spend a couple of days indoors. Trapped.

It didn't bother everyone, though. His brother Papyrus seemed perfectly content to just sit in the living room with his wooden puzzles or watching Grillby start his preparations for the days to come. Like a tornado of fiery flames, the elemental didn't get a break, refusing even the thought of it just for them to be perfectly comfortable until the blizzard passed. Food was being prepared at an incredible speed before the weather affected the monster too much for him to be able to lift a finger. Fire monsters were not meant for this.

Usually Grillby would go to Hotland until the blizzard passed, leaving Sans and Papyrus with enough food to survive until it passed and he returned home. Gaster couldn't make it this year, though. The scientist was still in the Labs. He overheard the last time the other two talked and Gaster promised to make it on time. It would be too tricky and the time was not on their side. Nevertheless, Gaster **promised**.

Sans didn't believe him.

He had his own plans, this time. He felt bad for Grillby, but realistically speaking, he wouldn't even notice Sans had gone out at all. He would be back soon enough. He just needed an opening.

A crash answered his hopes, Papyrus having tripped on the glass and wooden table, making a mess. It seemed like he was about to cry. His first instinct was to go help his little brother, but he held himself back a bit. Grillby had gone out of the kitchen to see what the commotion was about and his brother had calmed down somewhat with all the attention on him.

His brother started munching on his sweater's sleeve while Grillby was fussing over him. If Sans wanted to go out at all, this was his chance.

As quietly as he could, he opened the window and went out, being careful enough to close it behind him. It wasn't perfect because it could only be locked on the inside, but it will do. He had promised Greater Dog and Doggo to go play at the forest the day before or to at least try. He thanked Papyrus in his head, a silent prayer for him to be alright accompanied by a pang of guilt. He would make it up to his brother.

The ground itself was shining and so pretty. His footsteps being covered almost instantly because of the falling snow and clinging to his clothes before falling harmlessly to the ground. It was a beautiful day outside.

Walking faster and faster, he managed to evade almost all of the Snowdin folk. He was proud of himself of that feat, even if he knew deep down that it had a lot to do with the way everyone was busy. And by almost, he meant that the bunny lady of the Inn saw him.

"Hey, you! The blizzard is about to start. Go home, kid!" the lady shouted and everyone nearby who heard her went to take a look. If they saw him, Sans would get a reprimand and he wouldn't be able to go with Doggo and Greater any time soon! It was risky, but if he had gone through the trouble of sneaking out of his house he may as well go all the way. He quickly hided on a snow puff, pulling off a Greater Dog tactic.

"Sorry, Miss. Last minute chores." Sans said hoping that that was enough to dissuade her of making a spectacle or to bust him.

"Oh, okay then. Just be careful to come back before the blizzard begins"

Tilting her head worriedly, finally her tone had gone down. Thankfully Sans was out of view of the curious monsters that had been looking at the shouting bunny, so he hurried. To the forest!

No one had seen him take that route, not even the nosy bunny. Or so he thought, his blue coat catching the attention of the shopkeeper just next to the Inn.

* * *

"Hey, that's cheating, man!"

"As if! You're just a sore loser, just admit it, pal!"

"BARK"

The snow fort was solid, more ice than anything. Careful to see the other two forts of ice and snow, Sans quickly ducked out of the way when a snowball almost hit him in the face.

A snow battle in two fronts!

Doggo had a pile of snowballs ready to react at the smallest movement. It was easier to see the movement of figures when the background was mostly one color. Any irregularities and he would shoot.

Greater Dog, on the other **paw** , was quickly expanding his fort with the snow in the ground, carelessly putting it all around him. No organization whatsoever but his enthusiasm made up for it.

Sans himself had just made a basic lump to hide behind it, moving from place to place and making even more lumps. Sure, Doggo could spot him most of the time, but that way he evaded Greater and his snow attacks!

Which were, to be honest, snow puffs more than snow balls. Awesome.

They kept playing and playing, time passing without noticing. The kids were too absorbed in their battle game to pay attention to it.

It was when Doggo was going to use his ultimate snowball that the wind made him stumble and fall into the ice headfirst that the ambient broke.

"Doggo!" Both Sans and Greater went running to check on their fallen friend, his figure slumped and unmoving. Sans checked him over, a nasty hit at the back of Doggo's head making him nervous."He passed out. We need to get him out of here somewhere dry…"

The howling wind, the ice, the snowflakes thicker and thicker by the moment not letting them see anything… Greater Dog whined, his ears flat against his head. Sans just kept looking around, a chill crawling up his spine.

It was the blizzard. And they were outside in the middle of the woods, the path home completely covered and a passed out monster in their hands. Sans started to sweat nervously.

"F*ck"

* * *

The door quickly opened and closed with a heartfelt energy, exhaustion exuding from his very form. It was obvious that Gaster pushed himself too far, Grillby thought privately to himself. It wasn't healthy and he was missing out on the skeleton brothers, watching them grow and interact. It would come a moment in time when he would come home and Papyrus wouldn't recognize him.

He got where the other monster came from, his reasons and all. The barrier was a priority for them all, the hopes of breaking it fueling all the Underground's hopes and dreams. The Core, too, was a necessity. This day in particular in Snowdin the extra energy would have been very appreciated. They didn't have a problem with heat or anything, Grillby was a fire elemental after all.

It just… It would have been nice to see more of Gaster's spirit and alluring aura instead of the exhausted and kinda depressed monster he had in his hands now. Without saying anything, not that it was needed between the residents in this house, Grillby passed the scientist a cup of hot cocoa. It was his private stash given that chocolate and anything related to it was so hard to get in the Underground.

Still, just this time, he thought it was worth it.

With a smile, Gaster reached out and let himself just fall into the couch, his hand over his face. He was tired beyond reason, that much was obvious to Grillby. And yet, the other monster instantly started asking Papyrus things and letting the homely ambient get him to slightly doze off.

With a smile, he went to Sans' room and knocked on the door.

"Sans, Gaster is here"

No sound coming from the other side. Grillby sighed, not this again. Sans was a great kid but it was hard for him to talk to Gaster outside of the Labs. If he could give his humble opinion, Sans was hurt, no doubt about it. This was something only Gaster could fix, though.

Going downstairs again and nudging Gaster's shoulder, he made a notion for him to go talk to Sans. The scientist was tired but he agreed nonetheless.

Going upstairs excruciatingly slowly, Gaster almost needed to drag himself to Sans' room door.

He knocked once.

"Sans, it is me. Open the door, please."

Silence.

He knocked twice. Grillby watching worriedly at a distance while holding Papyrus in his arms.

"Sans, stop this nonsense and come out, we are all here and you will not get any hot cocoa if you keep this up."

Silence.

He knocked thrice. Even Papyrus seemed to note something was amiss starting to get upset, Grillby making soothing sounds to try to calm him down.

"Sans, either you come out this instant or you are going to be in trouble!" More silence. "That is it, I am going in."

Charging against the door, Grillby was anxiously waiting for the rebellious answer of such a private monster like Sans was of his space. This wouldn't be pretty and was going to be more trouble than worth. He honestly only wanted them to get along in other aspect of their lives that wasn't work, for them to open up a bit to each other and regain that characteristic relationship that made them both so endearing. It seemed like it wasn't working.

Papyrus only seemed to get more upset. Gaster was silent.

"Grillby, are you sure that Sans was in his room all this time?"

Feeling a twinge in his magma core, Grillby nodded, explaining once again how Sans always played with Papyrus before retreating to his room locking the door. When Grillby took a look past Gaster's figure, he seemed to freeze.

The room was empty. Sans was not home.

And if Sans was not home… Grillby looked at the window full of fear. If Sans wasn't in his room nor any other part of the house that he always checked after cooking… A particularly strong wave of air and snow hit, completely opening the window in the living room with a loud bang. It wasn't locked, but Grillby always locked everything except the front door before starting to cook… Oh, no.

Sans was out there, stuck on the blizzard.

Gaster's exhaustion seemed to evaporate on the air.

"Grillby, wait here with Papyrus. I'm going to look for Sans."

With indignant fury, his fire let some sparks fly off. "Like hell you are, I'm going with you."

With the exchange of stares and worried glares, they both seemed to come to a decision. Quickly pulling on as many layers of clothing as they could, they locked the window and headed out to the Inn to let Papyrus there while they went to look for Sans.

* * *

The snow and the wind didn't let them see anything. It was too much and Sans kept hearing Greater dragging his cousin as best as he could, still out **cold** … Now was not time for jokes, though, they were in trouble.

He wasn't a babybones by any means, that was his brother back home, but his joints and his knees especially started to give out. His whole frame was trembling and he was a skeleton, how much harder was for both Greater and Doggo? They had fur, sure, but they also had flesh and a more material magical form. Sans quickly summoned some ligaments with magic to stop the rattling of his bones.

There was a part of him that told him this was it, they were going to die out there in the cold. That there was nothing they could do about it. Clenching his hands and trying to see what lied before them, Sans told it to shut it. He needed to get back to Paps and Grillby and… heck, even Gaster. The Angel, if Gaster even caught a rumor of this he would be in so much trouble… He really hoped it didn't come to that. Being honest with himself, though, if it was between that and freezing to death, he would choose Gaster ten times over.

Greater whined again and Sans saw the disaster before it even happened. Greater toppled over, falling on top of Sans and bringing them both to the ground. He struggled, kicked, tried to worm his way out… Nothing worked. This was it, Sans thought, now for real. He was so scared but, at the same time, so tired…

Trying to hold on didn't work anymore, not when no matter what he did, he would still be trapped under Greater in the blizzard. Sans tried, he really did, but when Greater slumped, having passed out too, the weight was too much for him. He was exhausted.

His eye-sockets started to close for what would be his end. In the distance, where the trees were the thickest and the cliffs were intimidating with their height and fall, he saw a light. It was warm, it was something he desperately wanted right now. He reached out.

His eye-sockets shut, the feeling of something dragging him from the hood of his jacket before a feeling of weightlessness and a soft something, moving and warm, convinced him to let go and finally embrace unconsciousness.

* * *

When Sans opened his eyes again, he was surprised. He supposed that his last thoughts of hopelessness setting in would do that to a monster, but he was relieved. He didn't want to die.

Looking around he saw Doggo and Greater lying on the ground besides him. The ground, dry, a soft blue rock that isolated them from the blizzard that could still be heard in the background. This wasn't Waterfall, it was dry for starters, but he was pretty sure that for the blizzard to be heard he would need to be on the entrance and this wasn't it. They had gone to play on the other direction, too.

A weird sound got his attention, there he saw a monster with horns, the biggest ones he had ever seen. Candles were attached to the ends with a flame that had nothing to envy of the likes of Grillby. He had seen this monster before, though. He was sure he had, somewhere in the cliffs on the forest. He just couldn't remember well enough, but the fur, the four legged disposition, the horns and that weird shape of his head…

"Are you feeling okay?"

Sans suddenly realized, this was Gyftrot. The clanking was of things he had on his horns, making a soft contrast to the howling wind outside. Sans hadn't ever been so thankful before. The monster was kind of a hermit and it was said that the particular shape of his horns and head had something to do with the almost perfect balance on magic. Once upon a time, it was said that Gyftrot could even fly.

It was improbable, it could be fake, but Sans found that he liked that theory.

"What were you doing out there in the blizzard in the first place?"

Sans startled and stopped all movement. F*ck it, it had been a long day and he needed to talk to someone. Hopefully Gyftrot wouldn't get them in trouble, but given that he had saved the three of them, he couldn't give a damn if he did.

And so, Sans explained. From how the snow called out to them, how he sneaked out, how they didn't realize the time they had spent outside, Doggo's accident… He told Gyftrot everything.

The other monster just smiled.

* * *

They both had been searching without stop. When they left Papyrus at the Inn after explaining the situation to the bunny lady, her sister the shopkeeper had butted in the conversation. At first, Grillby had been annoyed, that was so rude. But after asking them what Sans was wearing, she told them the direction he had taken.

Grillby wouldn't get mad at her anytime soon, he was even going to offer her something on his bar for free at this rate. In the middle of their search they had bumped into the Canine Unit. Apparently both Doggo and Greater Dog were missing too.

The blizzard was intensifying, it was harder and harder for him as a fire elemental to be out in the blizzard. His clothes wouldn't protect him for long at this rate. They were going to go back to Snowdin to head to the forest again after drying their clothes a bit when they saw a light. The Canine Unit kept sniffing the air like wild, the wind not letting them smell any scent. They all tensed, unconsciously preparing for a fight.

But when the light approached and they could see a bit better, they saw that hermit from the cliffs. He lived in a relatively remote cave, but he was always seen alone. Then why was a figure at his side? Squinting a bit, Grillby took note of the careful way Gyftrot shielded it. What…

Gaster was the first of them all to see what was going on, the first to react too.

"Oh The Angel, My Stars! It's the kids! Sans!"

Hurrying after him, Greater was at Gyftrot's side shivering with cold while holding a barely conscious Doggo. Sans was holding on Gytrot's fur, riding on his back and trying to shield himself as best as he could from the wind. Relieved, Grillby smiled when they got to them. Gaster was crying while embracing Sans and the Canine Unit were trying to make a pile to get both pups warm. Everyone was emotional, including himself.

With a blinding smile, Grillby looked up to Giftrot and smiled.

"Thank you."

When the blizzard passed and everything went back to normal, the tale of what happened to the trio of troublemakers spread through Snowdin at incredible speed.

The Snowdin folk was grateful as a whole and they told Gyftrot as much. The poor monster just nodded and shied away, too unused to the attention.

It was when Papyrus saw him for the first time that it happened.

"Oh, you look like a pretty tree and a reindeer! Like in those humans' books!"

That left the whole town wondering and assaulting the Librarby until they found out what all that was about.

"Christmas. Noun. The anual festival of the *¨+´´+ √™∂¶ ∑∫ commemorating ∑~å∫∂å ^¨Ñ:s∂å∫∂§ an occasion ¶©µ§ ∫∂¶ø™∂å gifts…" It wasn't legible, but the monsters thought they got the gist of it.

"GYFTMAS!" Exclaimed Papyrus while trying to read the actual name of the festival. Seeing as it matches the especial occasion and the name of the monster that made it all possible, once a year that the blizzard took over, they all decided.

From now on, they too would have a holiday like that to commemorate this day. For no more children lost outside on the forest, for no more deaths in the blizzard time. Gyftmas had now officially started!

* * *

20XX - Years later

* * *

"SANS, THE HUMAN ASKED ME AFTER SOMETHING TODAY…"Papyrus was troubled. He always took it for granted, but was there a reason?

"And why the f*ck would I know what the kid tells you? Even then, why would I care?"Sans grumbled. He was in a bad mood. Even since that human had showed up things had gotten complicated. His promise to the old lady, his worry of the old lady herself, Papyrus' involvement in the whole mess…

"WHY, BECAUSE I AM GREAT, AND IF YOU DON'T SHOW ME SOME RESPECT YOU WILL BE IN TROUBLE! DON'T ASK ME TO HELP YOU OUT THEN BECAUSE I WON'T, YOU LAZY ASS!"

Sans just passively watched his tall brother stomping on the ground. So, he was upset. He had only called Sans lazy once in that whole thing and didn't call him anything else, no mention of him being a loser or anything. Huh.

"Agh, if it will stop your bitching just tell me what the f*ck is bothering ya'."

"WHY DO WE CELEBRATE GYFTMAS? WHAT IS THAT THING SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT?"

Sans remembered hopelessness, cold, the feeling of growing numb. But he also remembered kindness, warmth and a happiness like no other. The monster that made it all possible out there in the forest, alone and marginated once again being molested by those brats.

It hurt.

"I don't know, bro. I don't know."

It was quiet after that.

* * *

 **And, that's it!**

 **Hope you liked it. Sorry if the ending felt a bit rushed but I really wanted it ready for today! Merry Xmas!**

 **Next update will take longer. I'm going to take a little break from this story until I finish my exams. Don't worry, though, it's just that I need to study XD. If everything goes well, the first Sunday of February you'll get double update.**

 **Please tell me what you think. Reviews and constructive criticism are alway welcome!**

 **NellB out :P**


	7. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned III

**Hi there,**

 **NellB here with another update.**

 **Disclaimer:** Undertale belongs to TobyFox, Underfell to the entirety of the Undertale fandom and the cover art is mine.

 **With that out of the way, enjoy!**

* * *

ARC II - The Judge and The Damned

* * *

19XX - Years Ago

* * *

Sans was kind of tired, his eye-sockets dropping slightly and the work piling up and piling up and not diminishing at all. It felt nice to let go and focus on something completely abstract for once. That Gaster had even thought of asking for help was something unthinkable, but it happened. Sans didn't know how to feel.

He had been so happy that, for once, Gaster had seen his worth. Sure, he had given up on the other monster taking care of him and his brother properly, being there for them. Nonetheless, there was a traitorous part of Sans' mind that was pleased with the circumstances, that part of himself that had the skeleton needing to prove himself to the other monster.

So, when Gaster asked, Sans agreed immediately, but the unthinkable happened. He was having second thoughts. Maybe he just wasn't ready for that kind of job, that kind of responsibility. It was terribly boring and tedious without enough legally required breaks. Even if he had them, he just… got so immersed in the topic he couldn't let it go. The words alluring him, pulling his consciousness deeper and deeper into the task at hand. He lost track of everything outside of his little bubble. Even when he managed to get away from the books Gaster made him read, it was time to get back to them anyways.

Was this how Gaster felt all the time? Having plenty of it yet using it so single-mindedly that it wasn't enough for him? Because Sans… Sans was afraid. He felt that if that disposition were to go on, he would lose himself to the science he loved so much, that joy that filled him, that thrill... It wasn't something that he felt he could easily escape.

That feeling, something inside of him that made him stay focused on the same damn task all the time… Thinking about the solitude of Gaster's absence, Papyrus' questions and Grillby's worries… Sans was afraid that he might end up just like Gaster.

No, that wasn't entirely correct either. Sans wasn't afraid.

He was terrified.

Maybe agreeing to work in a project at the Labs wasn't such a good idea, maybe Sans should have said no and be done with it, just being the over-glorified errands boy. But of course Gaster had to ask him, of course he had to say yes, of course he wanted more time with the Doctor… Of course.

Looking back, Sans knew he wouldn't have changed anything. He had been too happy, too giddy in the feeling of recognition from his guardian. Heck, he was sure that if the other asked him anything at all all his answers would have been yes. Like, would you like burgers or fries? Yes.

Hilarious.

Still, the work had its handicaps. Sure, he was smart, that had been acknowledged, finally, but it seemed to not be enough.

Not that he ever was, what did he expect?

Still, not enough yet. That gave him a push to get done with it, to not stop until he finished everything Gaster felt was necessary before the experiment started. The books he needed to read were plenty and Gaster wouldn't be satisfied until he read them all, claiming that Sans knew about a lot of stuff but he needed to be sure he understood everything perfectly. The doubt stung, but Sans understood. He really, really did.

He was just a kid, after all. Gaster must have been out of his mind when he asked for his help. He asked **Sans** for help, out of all the monsters. A kid with still two stripes, a sickly kid at that. Again, Sans doubted he was the monster for the job, maybe he was not enough, would never be enough, he wasn't enough to make him stay at home or to take care of Papyrus or…

Sans' head hurt.

Maybe he just needed some fresh air. He had been reading quantum physics non-stop since agreeing to the experiment thing, after all. Looking at the window in the little room next to the Doc's office that had been lent to him, he supposed that Hotland didn't exactly have fresh air, if the name didn't give it away. It wasn't a **cool** place at all, heh.

How long had it really been, though, since he went back home to Snowdin? Somehow, Sans couldn't focus enough to get an estimated idea, but having to think about it told the skeleton enough. He could take the day off, he was sure that Gaster wouldn't really mind, not that he would notice that Sans wasn't in the room in the first place with how busy he was for the King's visit in a few days. Not that he wanted the other monster to notice or anything, really.

Wow, he sure needed to get out. Fast. He was starting to sound like Tsundereplane.

Stretching and hearing his spine pop because of his hunched position of reading all this time, Sans grimaced and got up from the chair. It made a grating, screeching noise that made him flinch and that made the pain come back, so he just stopped moving at all.

Stars, he was such a mess.

His clothes didn't smell, he didn't have the glands for it, but it was a near thing with magical sweat taking its place. There were weird stains in his sleeves and there was a bit of drool in the chest are, surely from having fell asleep, though he couldn't remember such thing happening recently. His mind was kinda muddled by exhaustion.

Shuffling the papers to make them look more organized, he took stock of the room once more. The bookshelf was mostly empty, there were only some biology and history related things. It was no surprise, given that everything else was in the pile Sans needed to read. The tile floor was spotless and the window got foggy because of the heat outside. The chair was just plastic and the table looked more like an examination one you would see in a hospital or something instead of a desk, full of papers and books all over it.

Such a mess, Sans didn't want to look at it anymore. Didn't want to look at himself anymore.

What did he want, though? He didn't know. The Labs seemed something out of this world, something he had always dreamt of. Now he wasn't sure if it wasn't a nightmare instead, this headache was killing him. Funny, he didn't have the necessary organs to develop a headache, but he did have to breath even without having lungs so what the heck, he wasn't going to question it.

Opening the metal door, again cleaned with something akin to OCD in its perfect mess, he left the room behind with a destination in mind.

Snowdin.

Sans was filled with exhaustion and hope.

* * *

Sans soon fell into a routine. It had only been a week, yet after that day that he got saturated with everything (three days that he had been gone without notice, three whole days that Papyrus spent asking after him with Grillby's sad and almost disappointed eyes. Sans was ashamed) he usually spent the day cycle in the Labs while asking Garfield to notify him when it ended.

It was still bothering him a little that he had to depend on another monster for that kind of thing, but even with his open disposition, Garfield was the mysterious and reliable type, so he managed.

The Underground didn't really change between those hours, not like the Surface, anyway. There wasn't a different brightness or darkness, there wasn't a reliable way to keep track of time but with a few clocks that somehow ended in the Dump. Even then, clocks weren't common, so every one of them needed to be donated to the Royal Guard, who were in charge on distributing them in such a way that most of the official buildings had one. Snowdin's Librarby was one of those buildings, he though absentmindedly.

Nonetheless, sleep was a necessity. All the monster agreed some kind of sleeping cycle had to be had so nobody disturbed the others. Most monsters at the Lab ignored it, too inmersed in their research to keep track of time or even bother to think about leaving if they had an experiment going on. Just like Gaster, the skeleton bitterly guessed. Just like him if he wasn't careful, too. So, in the Labs, the sleeping cycle was something seemingly alien, but Sans found it was the only way to make himself go away.

If he didn't have a clear signal to let it go, he would be trying to leave for hours. No kidding. It happened with his previous procrastination too. In thirty minutes he would let go. Those thirty minutes would become an hour, which in turn would become two hours and so on. At least working and studying were better than spending all day in bed, too tired to do anything, too pained from growing pains and magic development.

Puberty was such a bitch. Sans wasn't even that tall!

He didn't really remember the time when Gaster stopped coming home to Snowdin. It had been something gradual, little by little, but it still felt awful. And that was with his little brother and Grillby to keep him company.

Papyrus was enough, he said, even if deep in his soul he longed for Gaster too. He didn't care, he told himself, even when it felt like Gaster's absence like a punch to his nonexistent gut.

He didn't want to make Papyrus go through that feeling again, the one they both had when the Doc started to not come back. He would be there, Sans told himself, he was not Gaster and he never would be. The doubt at the back of his mind told him, warned him, of the possibility that his efforts to be there wouldn't matter in the end. It was inevitable, really, that he would end up as a jerk in adulthood. But he didn't want to hurt his brother, never Papyrus. Sweet, small and innocent Papyrus that he sure as heck was going to pick up today after school.

In your face, conscience.

And now Sans was talking to himself. Fantastic.

The skeleton kid went quickly through the different parts of the Labs with a clear goal in mind, the exit. The smoldering heat, the terrible smell of sulphur and melting rocks…

Stars, Hotland sucks.

Not one to be deterred by such things, Sans pushed through. He would just have to get on with it, his swirling thoughts making forgo taking the Riverperson's boat in order to clear his mind and be disconnected from work by the time he reached Snowdin.

It worked. It had to.

* * *

20XX - Years Ago

* * *

The snow kept drifting in Snowdin, a peaceful haze that mended everything together in a peaceful state. It was a lie, she knew, but she found she couldn't care at all anymore. Everything was so beautiful when looked at with the correct lenses, even if it was her husband the one with the glasses. That would have been a good pun for his repertoire, she thought sadly.

Her husband didn't really make jokes anymore. It was fine, the Underground wasn't a place of joy and laughter anymore, the hope the monsters exuded in waves tainted with something as horrible as LV. She couldn't bring herself to hurt another, not really. This wasn't the kind of place she wanted for his son Snowy, but she couldn't do much of anything these days anyways.

She had always been a bit more delicate than the rest of the monsters health wise. Her husband knew this, the Inn Keeper knew this, everyone in Snowdin did. The killings... No, murders. The murders felt like a tangible guilt in her conscience. She didn't go out, couldn't if she didn't want to risk herself and her husband. Her little Snowy was still a kid and would be a long time before he was out of the three stripes in his way to adulthood. Had it been so long already?

She felt so tired.

Always indoors, always confined in a tight space. The air in Snowdin, once pure and fresh, smiling of pine trees... Everything was such a disaster.

So, so tired...

Yes, the snow was beautiful, she thought as she closed her eyes. She collapsed, never to wake up again. Her last words a plea for her son, for him to be okay, an apology, a caress, a word infused with as much love as she could, not LOVE. Never LOVE.

\- Snowy...

* * *

 **So, guess who's back?**

 **If you are questioning the change in Sans' attitude relating Gaster, that's easy. He's tired. If you think about it, he's a teenager about to hit puberty and he knows it, so he's moody as heck, even if he doesn't know what that entails for a skeleton monster like himself. He's pretty good at pretending to be completely okay when he's clearly not, too, so there's that.**

 **Also, we have the first fallen monster. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Out of all the amalgamates, Snowy's mother was the one to hit me in the feels the hardest.**

 **So, what do you think? Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome.**

 **NellB out! =D**


	8. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned IV

**So, as I said, two chapters in one day! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer:** Undertale belongs to TobyFox, Underfell to the comunity of Undertale in general and the cover art is mine.

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

19XX - Years Ago

* * *

The last time Sans had been away for so long, he had returned sheepish and with an apology ready on his inexistent tongue. He had always been a bit too independent, but Grillby figured it was kind of his fault. He had been the one to let him chase after the figure of the Doctor, after all.

Still, his brother Papyrus was the same, in a different kind of independence. Where Sans struggled to get out of bed, it being almost a fight everyday… With Papyrus was the opposite, there was no way to get him to rest by conditional means, unless it was because of Sans reading him a bedtime story. Sans was obsessed with science, Papyrus with puzzles. Where Papyrus would sneak out to play in the woods or the Gyftmas tree, Sans would sneak in places like the Doctor's house or the Librarby.

It was weird, seeing how they complemented each other, being the same at their very core yet distinctly different.

The brothers had always been weird, to a point. But he cared for them deeply and the fact that Sans spent all his time at the labs… It didn't sit well with him. If Gaster insisted in the importance of the teenager studying, couldn't he do it from home? It hadn't been an issue before. Sure, Sans wasn't doing it supervised but he didn't have the heart to tell the kid no and that would surely be what Gaster would have told him.

Apparently, he was wrong.

Grillby didn't like it.

It was natural that the kid wanted to spent more time with the scientist, but that didn't mean that he had to be fine with that. Where was the other when Sans got in trouble? When Sans' insecurities got the better of him? When the teenager almost trashed the backroom of his bar because of his first magic attack?

He got that the scientist was busy, that he was doing his job for the good of all the monsterkind. Yet the look on his boys when Gaster started to not come back? Grillby was so mad.

There was the sound of crackling fire.

With a deep breath, the fire monster told himself to calm down, that he was overreacting. His hold on his magic was better than this, **he** was better than this.

A bell from the back door alerted him of someone entering his house.

"Grillbz? I'm back!"

The door sounded harsh on the floor, the wood with chunks outside that only allowed the door to be closed with great force. There was a big bang. Only then, Grillby allowed himself to go to return the greeting.

"… how was your day?"

Quietly, almost without any sound, the elemental struggled to make his voice louder. The skeleton seemed exhausted, but that wasn't anything new. It had been six days since the nonsense from the experiment started and the kid seemed to be swaying in place.

If Gaster didn't put his act together, he would make him. This was calling for an intervention.

"Oh, it was okay. Just, you know, the Doc doesn't allow me near the experiments yet. Heck, he wouldn't even let me KNOW what the experiment itself will be."

The words did little to reassure him, but they did.

"… anything interesting?"

"Nah, just tired." Sans shrugged, feigning disinterest while looking for something in the room. Probably Papyrus, the fire monster guessed. It had been a while, almost two days the brothers had spent any bonding time together. Sure, Sans had come back every day after that little stunt, but…"Anyways, where's Paps?"

… but he didn't seem to be all here. It frightened Grillby more than he could care to admit.

"…he was in the Inn, last I knew. It's still fairly… early."

The skeleton flinched and Grillby softened his features, a stern glare he didn't even notice he was making leaving his face. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he missed the little ball of moodiness that was this monster. The trials of parenting other monsters' kids. Especially if those kids were **teenagers**.

Sans' sockets were wide, looking just at him.

Didn't seem to notice the lamp floating just above his head.

Puberty… That thought sobered him enough, quickly scrambling for a way to get the skeleton out of the house before he noticed...

Or before Grillby needed a new lamp for his humble living room.

"…why don't you go get him? He has been… kind of sad…"

The skeleton hunched, his posture slumped. It seemed like he felt bad about that as if he was the cause of his brother's feelings. Well, Grillby guessed it made sense and it was a big part of it. Just not all the problem.

"Alright, I'll just…" the teen lapsed into silence, before quickly looking at him and lower his gaze to his shoes immediately after "… I'll bring Paps for dinner."

Grillby watched Sans leave with a heavy soul… Just before hearing the telltale crash of his lamp.

Damn.

That kid would be the end of him.

He was not looking forward to going to The Dumps in Waterfall just to look for a new one.

* * *

He had been worried, to be honest.

He hadn't been spending as much time as he would have liked with Papyrus and that was glaringly obvious in his little brother's demeanor this past week. Nonetheless, maybe this was for the best. Papyrus was still a babybones but he would grow up soon enough, he needed to be confident. He needed to know how to cope with stressful situations and how to defend himself.

In truth, Sans didn't want to let his brother figure this all on his own, but he felt like he had little choice in the matter. The (kind of) kindergarten was helping his bro by letting him being more independent, interacting with other children from all around the Underground. Sans knew that if he were to be present, he would be hovering all the time and chasing off the other kids.

And while he would like to do that, not that his brother minded the attention (quite the opposite, in fact), it wasn't good for him. To grow isolated, alone.

Not that he liked leaving Papyrus on his own, he probably never will. Papyrus had some abandonment issues.

Again, Gaster's fault.

"Everything comes back to you, doesn't it, Doc?" Shaking his head, he tried to dispel the thought. He knew he wasn't being very far. It wasn't like that, Sans told himself, he was just... So tired... "Heh, welp, I better hurry."

Quite the habit he was getting, talking to himself.

But it was weird. He felt weird. This exhaustion wasn't normal, he knew. It felt like when he was starting to get the hang on his magic, spending unnecessarily big amounts of it subconsciously. But it couldn't be that, could it? His magic wasn't acting up since he mastered his basic bone attacks.

Maybe he would ask Grillby later.

He had a brother to cheer up, after all. With that in mind, he took a detour. It was still early like Grillby said, he could afford to waste a bit of time in the way to get his brother something nice.

Spending time with his brother after so long... filled Sans with happiness.

Sans entered the shop of the Bunny Lady, the sister of the one managing the Inn.

* * *

Papyrus was bored. He kept looking at all his pretty drawings, looking wishfully at one in particular where he had drawn his brother Sans and himself with a dark blob in the background. He knew his artistic abilities weren't the best but he felt pretty proud!

He didn't really remember the blob's features, but he knew the name, the monster, it was supposed to represent.

Papyrus, Sans and Gaster.

Like it was meant to be.

He didn't really remember what the tallest of the three looked like, but that was okay! He was still little, he was told by the Bunny Lady that it was normal at his age to not remember a lot of things if he didn't saw them often, faces included!

So, what if he didn't see the taller all that much? He was still so great! His brother Sans had told him a lot of what the other monster did, working tirelessly in his efforts to make their lives more comfortable. In the hopes of keeping up morale, of keeping up HOPE! The other monster sure was amazing, doing all that complicated sciency thing in Hotland. He was even considered a hero, a respected monster by all the Underground population. He was the centre of a lot of gossip and guesses, the older monster was POPULAR!

But Sans was pretty amazing himself. Going to work at the Labs, helping Mr. Grillby out in his restaurant, reading Papyrus his bedtime story, looking after him... His brother was great, too.

Papyrus wanted to be like the both of them, even better than the two when he grew up! He would be THE GREAT PAPYRUS, in all caps. Everyone in the Underground would know his name, respect him, be his friend! He would be so popular, too!

Maybe then he wouldn't feel so alone while staying in Snowdin, looking at his brother leave to work.

Don't get him wrong, the great Papyrus (not in caps as he himself was still little), was very proud of his caretakers. Both his brother and Gaster were very intelligent monsters, capable of incredible things with just the right materials. He just... wasn't like that, at all.

He was told he was clumsy, that he was graceless and dumb. He didn't like it when the other monsters told him those mean things. At all. They were mainly the teenagers and he was told that teenagers said dumb things themselves, to feel better about what happened to them. He tried to brush them off.

Still.

The paper wrinkled under the pressure of his fist. The sound snapped him out of it and he hurried to try to fix the drawing he had been so proud of before. He was so clumsy indeed.

He wanted Sans to be home.

He didn't want to be alone.

It was his brother, too, not just someone the scientists could order around.

His brother. Papyrus' brother.

His.

Papyrus'.

* * *

The paper-bag sounded like it was about to rip from the weight and Sans shot a look at it, startled.

He had been thinking what to get his brother, to make amends for all the time he had to spend nowadays and all the time Sans would be leaving him again to either study or work. He hoped to start working again, soon, this time with a experiment himself.

He was excited, but...

The tub of NiceCream jostled inside the paper-bag. Right.

Opening the door that led him to the outside again, Sans clutched the bag with both hand from below. Better be safe than sorry.

"Bye, Bonny."

"Bye, kid. Don't get in trouble again" said the bunny monster with a warm smile and a small wave.

Sans snorted and hurried to get to the other front gate of the building, the Inn. He couldn't wait to see Papyrus, he had missed that little terror _terribly_. Heh.

The Bunny Lady from the Inn welcomed his with a small, before hurrying after Snowdrake, who kept trying to sneak out to practice his jokes without being made fun of. They were terrible, they didn't even make a lot of sense, but the kid was trying and he could respect that. He was trying to emulate that kid's father, too, Snowdrake Sir sure knew his stuff about comedy.

"Papyrus?" He called out to his brother.

There was a crash and a bang, curiously even a bark, lots of kids started to cry out and mayhem took control. He looked amused at his little brother who had just gotten out of the Kindergarten zone.

"SANS! YOU'RE BACK!"

Putting the paper-bag in the ground, he grinned, preparing for the hug that was so coming his way.

Did he say hug?

It felt more like a lunge. Ouch. His little brother was so cool it hurt.

"Hey kid, how was your day?"

Papyrus beamed under Sans' undivided attention, ignoring the poor Bunny Lady rushing back to the Playground in the back with a struggling Snowdrake under her arm. She glared at the brothers, the icy look almost making Sans flinch. Women were scary.

"IT WAS VERY GOOD. BUN, MS. BONNY'S SON, PLAYED WITH ME FOR A WHILE BEFORE HE LEFT FOR HIS MOTHER'S SHOP. AND THEN I GOT YOU SOMETHING!" Papyrus paused, looking to his hands. He was wrapping something with a powerful grip. After seeing that, the little skeleton's face fell, eyes sad. Startled, Sans asked him what was wrong. "IT'S JUST... I MADE THIS FOR YOU... AND NOW IT'S ALL RUINED!"

With a patient smile and warm eyes, Sans looked at Papyrus, letting the other separate from their hug.

"Can I see, at least?" Said Sans, holding out his hand.

Papyrus scrunched his face, looking dejected.

"BUT IT'S ALL RUINED NOW..."

"It doesn't matter, bro. I still wanna see."

Meekly, Papyrus complied.

It was a drawing of three people and he knew exactly who each one was. He tried to soften his features more, even if Gaster as a black blob with white hands and an oval head, looking like a creepy featureless monster, made him snort.

"Papyrus, bro, look at me." Papyrus did. "It's pretty cool, you know? And I know the perfect spot for it."

Suddenly all shiny and excited, Papyrus beamed. Sans could almost swear that glitter and sparkles were encompassing his little bro's face.

"YOU MEAN... THE PICTURE MUSEUM?"

Again, Sans snorted.

"If you mean the fridge by that, then sure." Papyrus made a happy dance, smiling. Sans' attention was once again being drawn to the paper-bag he had left on the floor. "Actually, I got something for you, too."

Papyrus gasped. "REALLY?! WOWIE!"

After a moment of silence, Sans hesitated.

"Aren't you gonna ask what is it?"

"WELL, I'M SURE IF IT'S FROM YOU, BROTHER, IT HAS TO BE VERY SPECIAL. ANYTHING YOU GIVE ME WILL BE SPECIAL, BECAUSE YOU'RE SPECIAL TO ME!"

Sans didn't know what he did to deserve this kid.

"Welp, I got some NiceCream from Bonny, so I thought, maybe... we could go to the forest and eat it outside before it gets late? We could make a couple of Snowmonsters too."

Smiling, Papyrus hugged Sans once more.

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY. THE GREATEST!"

How could have Sans left his brother aside for days? The Angel help him, he wanted to make up for the time lost.

Wait, was that actual glitter?! His clothes! HOLY SH-

* * *

 **I promise this is going somewhere, it's just... Well, I like fluff. Enjoy the fluff while you can. Trust me.**

 **Anyway, little Papyrus is adorable.**

 **I didn't know what to name the bunny monsters, so the bunny from the Inn is Bunny (Asgore level of originality), the Shop Keeper is Bonny and her son (the one who's going to be the monster selling NiceCream in his cart in the future) is Bun. There are more bunnies in this family, but I don't think they show up later so I'll clear up who's who if they do show up in the end.**

 **Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome! Please keep in mind English is not my first language, so if you see a mistake somewhere tell me and I'll fix it.**

 **NellB out!**


	9. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned V

**Hi!**

 **I'm here again with an update!**

 **Disclaimer:** Undertale belongs to TobyFox, Underfell to the fandom of Undertale and the cover art is mine.

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

19XX - YEARS AGO

* * *

It was cold but not windy, and Sans was, honest to The Angel, very grateful for that.

His plans for the evening were very simple, just spending time with his little brother and make up for time lost, even if he knew it didn't exactly work like that. It hadn't been that long and Papyrus seemed to be okay, or so he told himself. He had missed him, missed this easy interaction that didn't end with him shivering or doubting himself. Papyrus was so great.

Being honest with himself, though, he was a little worried. It had been three days away without going back and who knew how much time would be next time he got stuck in the Labs for one reason or another? Because, there would be one. If Sans knew something, it was that. As much as he tried, he would be held up in the Labs, loose the sense of time passing, forget to eat and sleep and go home.

His hand tightened subconsciously. It was harder than expected to make himself relax, but he didn't want Papyrus to notice anything wrong. At least, not today.

No, today was a day for the two of them and no one else.

Sans looked at his little brother. It was cold, that much was true, but just walking side by side with the other skeleton, sharing laughs and funny memories in fondness...

It filled him with warmth.

* * *

 _"Hey, Sans?" Asked Papyrus, cutely tilting his head to one side at the same time that he looked to his big brother, his eye-lights manifested. It reminded Sans of the puppy eyes Greater Dog would use to get something from his parents. "Can I ask you a question?"_

 _With a loving smile, he nodded to the little skeleton. "Of course, Paps. What is it?"_

 _For a moment, Papyrus only observed Sans, searching for something. Honesty, perhaps? Sans wasn't sure if he passed or not, but he tried to put the thought of his little brother studying him like Gaster would observe one of his experiments out of his mind. Apparently, Papyrus found what he was looking for, a confident face appearing on his features._

 _"Where is Gaster?"_

 _Sans' smile froze._

* * *

They got to their final destination relatively quickly. It was just a field full of ice and snow puffs, a sentry station just ahead in the path that was currently empty. Was it Furray's? He wasn't sure.

They passed Greater and Lesser Dog in their way, playing in the snow. A detour wouldn't hurt and, besides, Papyrus seemed to be having fun. His little brother ended up playing fetch with the dog monsters, Sans himself throwing the branches from nearby trees. Big brother's privileges.

Hearing Paps having a good time, making friends with Lesser and Greater...

For being trapped in the Underground, Sans never felt so free.

* * *

It had been a good day. He had laughed, had some good food and spent time with his little brother. He sighed, a sense of contentment and relief flooding his senses. He had been worried for nothing, it seemed. Papyrus was his usual ball of energy, impossible to keep up with. Man, his little brother was so cool.

The evening had passed without further incident. They didn't have time to make a snowmonster this time, but just the NiceCream and the company seemed to be enough for the little one. Relieved, Sans smiled, letting the warm environment relax him even further, almost falling asleep in the living room table.

They had been eating _quietly_ (or as quietly as they managed with Papyrus happily eating and chatting) in Grillby's house, not allowed to be in the bar at this hour. Though that expression was lost on Sans, considering their lack of sunlight or moonlight. Was it day or night? Was it late or soon?

Grillby had prepared them a few burgers and milkshakes. Usually, the hunger from all the day's activities would catch up with Papyrus and he would cave in, eating the _greasy food_ , as he told him one day. Today, obviously, that hadn't happened.

When Grillby asked Papyrus after his day, Papyrus excitedly told him all about how Sans had gone to pick him up and go play, eating NiceCream before dinner.

Busted.

He found he couldn't really mind, even if the weary sigh Grillby let out of his mouth was very present in his mind. The fire monster looked exhausted but the indulgent smile on his face relaxed the skeleton quite a bit. He didn't know what he would do without Grillbz and, honestly, he didn't want to find out.

* * *

 _"Hey G. So... How was work today?" Face unreadable, the scientist just stared back._

 _"Sans, mind telling me why is there spaghetti sauce in the wall?" The skeleton looked everywhere but at the older monster, nervous. Gaster let out a weary sigh, looking exhausted. "I'm going to the basement to work. Do not disturb me."_

 _Ashamed, Sans lowered his head, wishing the ground to swallow him whole._

 _"And I expect that to be clean when I get back."_

 _A lonely blue tear fell._

* * *

But Grillbz wasn't like that. He had proved himself, time and time again, no matter what shenanigans the skeleton brothers pulled. He was a constant, almays with a warn hug and a soft smile ready.

Grillbz was amazing.

Cheerful thoughts, Sans told himself. That's right. Cheerful thoughts.

He had to stay positive. He had been doing so well today, too. Maybe he should do this more often. That thought seemed impossible enough to sour his mood just a bit further, knowing perfectly fine that the next day he had a lot of work to make up for today so Gaster wouldn't notice anything amiss. Tomorrow seemed so far away, though...

Sans relaxed again, even more than before. He would deal with that tomorrow, that wasn't his problem at the moment. He let himself enjoy and laugh and be filled with warmth once more. He heard his brother laugh at something silly and his smile broadened. That would be future Sans' problem. Here and now, he just focused all his attention on his little brother.

He didn't see it, didn't notice anything different, but Grillby let a sigh of relief at seeing the furniture stop shaking. This was going to be a problem soon.

Grillby kept silent.

* * *

The next day, when Sans had to go back to the Labs in the morning, he found himself a little bit lighter than the day before. Paps would be okay and Sans asked Greater to keep an eye on his little brother, just in case.

Sans was filled with happiness.

* * *

 **And that's it. Sorry if it's a bit short? I'm not entirely sure about this chapter.**

 **Next: the story continues. Something important does actually happen? Yes, it does. Finally XD.**

 **If you read "Oh, The Angel" or similar expressions, it's because in Deltarune there is supposed to be a religion or something about the** **prophecy? So, I just switch expressions we use like "Oh, God" or something like that with its counterpart? I guess?**

 **So, what are your thoughts? Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome. Remember English is not my first language, so if you see a mistake somewhere just tell me and I'll try to fix it.**

 **NellB out!**


	10. ARC II - The Judge and The Damned VI

**Hi!**

 **New chapter! Yay?**

 **(...)**

 ***The sound of nothingness does not help your determination. You'll persevere, anyways.**

* * *

19XX - Years Ago

* * *

Sans wasn't sure what he was doing in the palace of all places. Surely this had an explanation, but he found himself coming up blank. Disturbing. He shouldn't have come here, what was he thinking? Although, he really hadn't had a choice, it was still nice to think he did.

The thing is, the morning had been normal. As normal as it could be with his life nowadays, at least. He had gotten up, ate breakfast and had a heartfelt conversation with Grillbz without any actual words (funny how that works), dropped Papyrus at the Inn, messed around a bit with the dogs and got to Hotland in time thanks to the Riverperson. Such a splendid mourning routine. Just with that alone was enough to make him want to take a break and nap all day. For a guy that supposedly wasn't a ´morning´ monster, he sure did things just after waking up.

But overall, yes, completely normal. A week had passed already and the tension ran high. The following day was the King's visit to the Labs, too, such an inusual occasion and the room just next to his (though it was hardly that, without anything to signal someone using it apart from the mess of papers and a sock in the corner) had been cleared. The monsters doing it had been grumbling angrily, that being the only reason he heard them at all. Apparently, they had to get the room ready instead of having time to work in their work to show off to the King. Boohoo.

Sans wondered just what type of monster would be in that wing. Was the other going to help Gaster as well? That wing of the facilities usually was off limits to the majority of the staff, it made sense.

So, everyone was a bit jumpy, true. And then there had been that thing about having to get a report to the King the very same day. Couldn't they have given it to his Majesty himself the following day? But no, apparently it was about their research to help the King understand his visit. Asgore was not a scientist and the visit would be pointless if he didn't at least have a basic understanding of the topic they were going to discuss. All their fundings depended on the King, so there was that, too.

How thoughtful, such a good example. Cramming all the day before. Sans bows when presented with such a **royal** procrastination.

Well, they always had the Queen, right? She was believed to be the responsible one, the voice of reason in the kingdom. She named Snowdin, after all, and such a good pun placed her in his good side without question.

So, the scientists (especially Gaster, as he was the boss) needed to get that report to king Asgore. The King Asgore.

And he had been the odd little kid that ran the errands, that was also true, but why the heck did they think sending him to the Throne Room to meet with Asgore was a good idea?!

He was so screwed.

Sans was barely paying attention anymore, the Capital of New Home always busy and bustling. Such a contrast with Snowdin, but then again New Home had better weather and was nearer the Barrier. Some monsters liked to pretend that sometimes the wind from outside the barrier went into the Underground, felt better being so near the Surface. Such agony, being so close yet so far.

He could see where they were coming from, nonetheless.

So, focus. Elevator, Core, Elevator, Judgment Hall, the creepy corridor and the Throne room. Easy, he just needed to stay calm, don't freak out.

Easier said than done, he was trembling like a leaf and it was making all sorts of rattling noises that gave away his distress. He didn't want to go in there, he just didn't. Fuck his anxiety. Fuck royalty. Fuck this awful situation as a whole.

He was in Judgement Hall, finally. The thought of having to push himself further felt excruciating, he wanted a break so badly. Maybe if he slept a bit on the shadowy hallway there wouldn't be any problem? He just wanted a nap.

Just five minutes...

* * *

20XX - Now

* * *

It was damp and uncomfortable and hot all at once. She didn't like it.

After crushing all the trainees there was not all that much that she could do now. Sure, she could go to New Home and report but... Nah, she would do that later. Right now? Undyne felt riled up. She wanted to fight! To beat something until it couldn't take it anymore and flee! There was a moment in her ramblings when she almost felt dust thirsty, her LV talking instead of her, taking over her mind for a few terrifying minutes until she calmed down enough on her own.

Not that the tunnels of Waterfall would fall or anything, but the cave system could do without any more damage to its structure. There were signs of struggle, of battle and dust everywhere. It made her uncomfortable but that was probably because she was near the entrance to Hotland, surely! Not that thinking of death and freedom and humans didn't make her cold blood boil! Just let one more through, just enough to prove herself and she would end them. Spear through their stomachs, coughing up blood and screaming in a glorious battle of gore!

She passed the panels depicting Human and Monster history, their defeat, their hope, their dreams... Their imprisonment and how it came to be. Humans. It was all their fault. **F*CKING HUMANS!**

She would rip them apart! She wouldn't fail, not again, Undyne thought while touching her face where her eye was supposed to be, where a patch covered the churned skin in a futile try to stop the dusting in that particular area, to hide her failures.

She wouldn't fail again. Never again.

The next human would be killed and she would be the one to do it. Rip their eye out instead! They would be beheaded, their tiny and wimpy head in one of her spears to welcome their enemies into their territory just before annihilating them all. They needed their souls, because if they didn't she herself would rip it outside of their chest just to crush it inside of their faces!

Exhaling, Undyne tried hearing the soothing sound of flowing water all around here. It was one of those days when everything felt a bit too bright, a bit too loud and not enough at the same time. She longed to go to Alphys', lights off and just a comfy couch with noodles to eat while watching anime. Maybe... cuddling? She felt her face warm a bit.

But no! Undyne had a duty and herself be damned if she didn't give it her 100%! Everyone counted on her, she was the head of the Royal Guard! In a place like this where it was kill or be killed, there were still monsters that dreamed for a change, a chance to be good, the possibility of a future without looking over their shoulder wherever they went! Just another human soul and they would be free. Just one more and Asgore...

Just one more soul!

* * *

She followed the path downstairs, the one leading to the rest of the Underground. Toriel often thought about those big doors, all the monsters leaving with an air of defeat and hopelessness around them as they explored their new... home, for a lack of a better word. It had been centuries before any human fell down, when they didn't know what to do or what would become of them. Bit by bit, the monsters found solace in each other and the newer generations took all over the place.

The Underground no longer felt like a prison with them around.

Hurrying a bit her strides, she felt like crying. But she couldn't, at least not right now. She was a queen, she must stay strong. Even if there was no one around to see her decline, the sorrow in her big and expressive eyes, the heartbreak of everything that happened. It was the coward's way out, she knew, but just the thought of confronting what had become of the place she once dared to call home, all those bright and happy memories of her children tarnished in blood and dust... She wasn't ready for that just yet, maybe she never would be.

"knock knock" said her mysterious friend once again from the other side of those damned doors.

"Who's there?" her voice, a bit wobbly. Her friend didn't point that out, even if she was sure that he noticed. She was grateful for that.

"some"

"Some who?"

"some asshole talking to a knock knock joke" he said, snorting at his own joke.

Toriel shrieked with laughter. It were those small moments that let her feel like herself again, the strong monarch that she was supposed to be, to feel like she could take on any challenge coming her way. Just for a small, fleeting moment, when even she thought that maybe, one day, she could be okay. And that made all the difference for her.

"Now it's my turn. Hmm, let's see..." The anticipation, lots of different jokes half-forming in her head before she dismissed them, looking for the perfect punchline. Confidently, she started. "Knock knock."

"who's there?"

"Cook"

"cook who?" he was, for once, honestly puzzled.

"Yes you are!"

A moment of silence before that nice and rumbling like laughter resonated in the dark and lonely corridors of her home. Yes, she would be okay. And some day, she would go out and thank him for it.

* * *

19XX - Years Ago

* * *

The tiled floor always gave off warm vibes that warmed her to her very soul, a relaxing place that helped her relax. She thought about sitting down and resting for a moment, just letting the artificial light on her skin and pretend she was on the surface once more enjoying the sun. Birds where chirping, only adding more weight to her fantasy. Why, she thought she even heard a bit of... snoring?

Snapping out of her daydreaming, she found that yes, there was a monster resting in the Judgment Hall just behind one of the columns. Such a funny place to take a nap, they were lucky that they had no need of a Judge anymore or they would be offended just on principle. It's not that there wasn't one, it just wasn't... necessary.

Nearing the monster she noticed the lab coat first and the striped shirt second. A child working in the Labs? That didn't sit well with Toriel, she would have to discuss that with her husband soon or, better yet, with the Royal Scientist himself.

Reaching out with her paw, she tried to get the little monster's attention. "Hello, little one. Wake up, this is no place to take a nap, you will be hurting afterwards."

Blinking rapidly, the child in front of her appeared to come to himself, looking around. When he noticed her, however, he tried to get himself up in a hurry just managing to fall to his initial position again. She laughed softly, trying to hide her laughter behind her paw as to not let any unlady-like sounds.

"It's okay, little one" she cooed, offering her paw to help him stand. He took it warily and embarrassed, a bright blue hue on his cheekbones. Which seemed to be more accurate than any other word she could have used, seeing he was a skeleton kid. Cheek **bones**. Toriel couldn't hide her amusement. "Are you okay?"

The child nodded slightly, a bit dazed but much more alert than before.

"That's good. Now, little one, what were you doing here?"

"Oh, eh... I have to get a couple of papers to the King..."

Toriel smiled warmly, encouraging the other to relax, which he did much to her delight. Papers to Asgore? More likely paperwork, but still. She had not been keeping up with the Monster Kingdom at all since having taken a few years to dedicate all her time exclusively to Asriel. It was only natural for the newer generations to not know how her husband looked like, let alone her! It saddened her a bit. Maybe she could try to get in the roll of things once again?

"It's okay, I was just going to go see him. I could take those papers for you to him."

The skeleton eyed her warily, a bit distrustful, but upon seeing the deltarune in her clothes, he seemed to be relieved. He nodded, giving her the papers. She was glad to have chosen this dress for her walk now, declaring her part of the inner circle of the kingdom. Asgore had one too, obviously, but so did Gerson, Furray and Gaster because of their positions of power with the war, Royal Guard or Royal Scientist respectively.

"Thank you, lady." He said relieved.

"Don't worry, child." She said amicably. "I **goat** you."

Ops, she hadn't meant for that to slip.

Although the laugh that rewarded her for that was so worth it. Soft and soothing but still that light sound that only children seemed to achieve.

"I'm Toriel."

Trying to calm down of his laughing fit, the skeleton extended his hand for a hand-shake. "Sans."

"Nice to meet you, Sans."

* * *

 **I think I have a problem with going too slow with this XD. Anyway, happy Valentine's day :D**

 **Reviews and constructive criticism are always welcome!**

 **NellB out!**


End file.
